OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 33 found almost deitroyed at tho incoming of the present administration, the former agents having deemed it indispensable to strip them of everything of value in order to prevent famine among the Indians. The meagreness of the appropri-ations made for the Indian 8ervice of the Territory has made it impossible for the present officers to restore these farms and reservations to a productive con-dition. The game of the country is well nigh exhausted. The Indian senice in Utah cannot he otherwise than discreditable to the government, unless Con-gress shall, by liberal appropriations, enable our agents to conduct their opera-tYons upon a scale in some measure corresponding with the absolute necessities of the Indims under their charge. We have no report from the superintendent of Nevada. From the latest intelligence received from that Territory, the, remarks in relation to Utah are believed to be applicable ther&o. I respectfully ask attention to tho remarlis upon this subject contained in my first annual report. COLORADO SUPERINTENDENCY. No serious outbreak of the Indians has occurred within this superintendency during the past year; but most of the Indians have manifested a restless dispo-sition, and have been much inclined to commit depredations upon the white settlers.. I t is believed that the timel? preparation of the government and the vigilant care of the superintendent and agents have done much to prevent dissturbances. The principal tribes are the Cheyennes and Ampahoes, the Utahs and Co-manches. An endeavor on the part of Superintendent Evans to put an end to hostilities which for many y w s haveexisted between the Cheyennes and Ara-pahoes on'the one hand, and the Utaha on the other, has been regarded by the former as an unwarrantable interference, and is one canse of difficulties with some of the chiefs of those t a s . The disaffected chiefs have, however, prom-ised to respect the wishes of the superintendent, and it is believed that they will occanion no further trouble. Another disturbing element consists in the fact that one or two of the band8 were not represented at the making of the recent treaty with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, who, consequently, still claim the right to roam throughout the territov once claimed by that nation. Although provision is made by the treaty for bands not parties thereto to become such, it is believed that their con-currcnc+ in the treaty can more easily be obtained by direct negotiations with them for that purpose. q With the U a s , Kiowas, and Comanches, we have no treaties. The Utahs, according to Surperintendent Evans's report, oocuppfrom 65,000 to.70,000 square miles, being allthat part of-Colorado Territory lying west of the Cordil-lera, or snowy range of mountains. They number aome ten thousandsouls, and are wild, warlike, and independent. Roaming over and claiming a count* so vast, and finding that each year is adding to the number of white settlers, 1-3 |