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Show 136 UTAH SUPERINTENDENCY. Thev exnress their willinmess to cede to the United States all the lands they Aaim'in this ~er r i toryw, ith the exception of reservations necessaq for their homes : and ask, in return, that the United States shall make them annual presents of blankets, beads, paint, calico, ammunition, &c., with occasional sup-plies of beef and flour sufficient to make them comfortable, which I estimate can be done with a small addition to the usual approp~iation. They seem fully to understand the nature and effect of a treaty, and the chiefs agree to hold themselves responsible for any de redations committed by any of their bands, if a treaty should be made, by f;educting the amount of damage done from the annuity paid them, I cannot too strongly recommend this course to the department, and sincerely hope that it will meet with that prompt attention that, to my mind, the import-ance of the subject entitles it. I had expected on my arrival in this city, and after aasuming the duties of this office, to find matters in a shape that I could immediately proceed to the discharge of m duty towards the Indians, but was very much disappointed; and instead of inding an ofice properly in order, with facilities for doing busi-ness, I could find nothingbut a few bundles of old papers to show that there had ever been a superintendent in the Temtory. This state of affairs necessarily delayed my intercourse with the Indians until I could procure an office and the fixtures necessary to do business with, which, owing to the exorbitant price charged for everything in this country, and the scarcity of material to manufacture office furniture, delayed me much longer than I had anticipated. I have, however, succeeded in establishing an office here in a becoming and. comfortable style, at an expense much less than has heretofore been allowed for that purpose. As soon as practicable after my arrival here, I made a visit to the Spanish Fork Indian farm and reservation, in order to ascertain from personal observa-tion the extent of the improvements there, and estimate the amount necessary to carry on farming operations for the benefit of the Indians at that place. The former agent, Mr. Humphreys, had left only a short time before, and there was no one living on the farm at the time of my visit. I found everything in a very dilapidated condition, the place having been cleared of everything that was salable, to buy food for the Indians that congregate around there. Mr. Hum-phrey~ h ad done everything in his power to keep them from suffe~<nga,n d being short of money, in order to feed them, he was obliged to sell everything mova-ble on the farm, which accounted for the deplorable state in which I found it. The dam on the Spanish Fork river, which furnishes water to the canal on the farm used for the purpose of irrigating the land, is very badly out of repair, and will require some three thousand dollars ($3,000) expended upon it to put it in a condition for available use, and about a thousand dollars ($1,000) will be needed to repair the fences, corral, &c., on the farm. I would recommend the appropriation of these amounts, for the purposes specified, in order to place the farm in a condition to be properly worked next season. Mr. Hatch, successor of Mr. Humphreys, has just arrived here, and gone to his agency on this farm, and unless some immediate provision is made for repair-ing the dam, fences, and stocking the farm, there will be nothing for him to do at that agency this winter. The Corn Oreek Indian farmis so farremovedfrom this city, (150 miles,) that I have been unable, for want of time, to make a visit to it myself; but, desiring to be able to report to you the condition of affairs there, I despatched a special agent, Mr. Dyman S. Wood, a very honest and reliable man, to that place, to ascertain what improvements, &c., had been made, and what was needed there, and the following is a copy of his report to me: |