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Show UTAH SUPERINTENDENCY. 135 I regret that my arrival in this Territory being of so recent a date, Angust 6, 1861, rendered it impossible for me to ascertain, as fully as I could wish, the exact condition of all the different bands of Indians in my superintendency. I have, however, been as dilieent as circumstances would oermit in findine out, fi.o~tp! ~r>onaelx umiriariun 0nn d n:lioLIc inti,rmati~,nf inm ,> iurtita ill wl~om I place nmlirle~.cc, rhr, w;mr* 3 r d ncecsiitie. of nnlt,t of rhe trillci aud l.a~rda of Indians laced in mv charee, and am sorrv to sav that I foand them in a verv poor coddition, both as reg;& a sufficient "suppl+ of clothing to rotect them from the severity of the weather in this mountainous country, and t $ e necessary amount of food to keep them from actual starvation. Too little attention, I am fearful, has heretofore been paid to the fact that ,I there is very little game in this Territory, of any description, which the Indians can kill to keep them in food. There is no buffalo whatever that range in this Territory, and very few antelope, elk, decr, mountain sheep, or hear, and these I only in certain lodities. . Civilization seems to have had the same effect here as has been noticed else-! where in this country since the first settlement by our forefathers, in driving before it the game natural to a wilderness, and the Indians com~lainb itterly that since the Ghite man has come among them their game has a&st enticel) disappeared from their former hunting-grounds, and they are now obliged either to beg food from tho white settlers or starve. The driving away of the buffalo not only deprives them of their principal supply of food, but also of a great source of revenue and comfort in the skins, which they sold and used to kecp them comfortable in cold weather. I have had more applications from Indians for beef and flour since I have been here than anything else. Tbey frequently come to me and fairly beg for some beef, to keep their squaws and papooses from starving. Owing to the limited amount of monoy placed in my hands, I have been unable to entirely satisfy their demands, but I am confident that what I have distributed in that way has hcen a great deal more satisfactory to the Indians than three times the amount expended in any kind of trinkets usually disbursed by the depa~tmentw ould have been. The annual appropriation for this superintendency ha, in my opinion, always been too small to allow the superintondent and agents to give that satisfaction to the Indians which their wants demand, and a proper regard for the rights and safety of the white settlers, by preventing depredations, requires. The establishment of the overland daily mail and telegraph lines, and their recent completion through this Territory-consummations of such vital import-ance to the people throughout the Union-render it necessary that steps should be immediately taken by the government to prevent the possibility of their being interrupted by the Indians. On this subject I have taken much pains to consult with most of the lendii men connected with these great enterprises, and also with nearly all of the hea % chiefs of the Indians that range on their lines in this Temtozy, and have, after mature deliberation, come to the conclusion that the only m,mner in which this 4 can be effected to the entire satisfaction and protection of all the parties con-cerned, is by & treaty between the United States and the tribes of Indians ranging in this superintendency. In recent consultations or "talks" with Waeh-a-kee and Sho-kub, the head chiefs of the Shoshones or Snake Indians, Xa~.acoots and Pe-tut-neet, chiefs I of the Ute nation, and many of the sub-chiefs of both nations, I find that they are nnanimously in favor of a treaty with the United States, and agree with me m considering that to be the only effectual way to check the stealiog propensi-i ties of some of their Indians: and from information eleaned from them on I various occasions, I have made the following memom~nmin regard to the probable cost and effect of a treaty. |
