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Show time as Congress shall meet, and by alipropriate legislation be enabled to provide ~ .- . for the deficTency. - With the exception of the changes incidental to the return of the refugees from Kansas, hut very little change 11aa been made dnring the past year in the condition of Indian asairs or of the various trihes within the sontbern snoer-intendency ; a11d inasmuch as a particular statement was made in the last animal report from this office as to each of these tribes, I deem it unuecessary on the occasion to present anything more than a general view of its present , . condition. There are now within the Indian conntry from fifteen to seventeen thousand -- .destitute Iudians. There are still remaining in Kansas near five hundred Sem- f-irroles, who, by reason of tbe small-pox prevailing among them at the time of the removal of the ohher refugees, conld not accompany them. Also, some six hundred Qonpaws, Senecas, and Shawnees, who conld not at that time be removed, fur the reason that their country is remote from any military post, and is so infested by rebelguerillas as to be unsafe for any one suspected of being loval to the United States. All these are, in'a -er eater or less deeree. denendent " . ' nion government for the necessaries of life, and thia dependence will continue, even with the most successful of military operations, until such time as the crops they may raise the coming year are mafi~red. As is elsewhere mentioned, nearly all the able-bodied men connected with these people are in the military service of the United States, and I learn from various sources that they have , proven themselves to he good and efficient soldiers. There is, however, a very/& general feeling of discontent prevailing among them because of the destitution of their families, and the failure hitherto to send into their country a military force sufficient to preserve order and protect it against the wholesale plunder- ' ing, robliiog, and thieving to which it has been subjected at the hands of the rebels, and of whites professing to be their friends and loyal to the government. There is, perl~aps,n o portion of country, of equal extent, within our territorial limits, better adapted to the heiness of stook-l.aising thanis the country owned by these people. Prior to:the rebellion they had engaged in this h11s-l' ness.very extensively, and many of them owned herds of cattle numbered by thousands. When the people were driven forth, their stock was necessarily left behind and to roam at large without ostensible owners. The rebels have availed them-selves of tbis condition of things to furnish themselves with immense supplies of beef for their armies; and, to the disgrace of our own people, it must he said that many of them have also engaged in the nefarious .business of stealing cattle from these defencelase, unfortunate, and truly loyal people. I t seems hardly credible that men professing tu he loyal conld be found so sordid and ; base as to make a systematic business of stealing the only means of sub- ' siatence left for women and children, whose brave and loyal husbands, fathers, and brothers are in the armies of .the Union battling for our common cause. Under the existing circumstances, this office is, of course, powerless to suppress , this infamous traffic ; but it is gratifying to know that it has engaged the attention of the military authorities, and it is to be hoped that the guilty parties may be ' dete'eted and receive the well-merited punishment their double crime against the laws of their country and the rights of a helpless and lo.ya l p.eo.ple ao richly ; merits. The respective treaties negotiated with the Creeks md Osages, and ratified by the Senate, with amendments, at its last session, were forwarded to those tribes for thcir.assent to the amendments, and have not as yet been returned, but there is reason to believe that the assent of the Indians will he obtained, and that the treaties will go into effect at an early day. With your approval, a special commissioner was detailed from this office in &lay last for the purpose of negotiating a treaty with delegations from the Cherokees and Delawares, at that time in this city, the principal object of said |
