OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 37 was fully understood; and it was gratifying to notice that the subject of the organization of an Indian territory, with provisions securing a certain degree of individuality to the various tribes-indeed, based upon the admirable form of government of the United States, and with a representative delegate in Con-gress- although at first distasteful to the leading spirits among the Indians, gradually increased in favor by the study of the few copies at hand of the hill proposed by yourself in the Senate last winter,until, near the close of the coimcil, Mr.Boudinot, amau of education and ability, speaking on behalf of the Cherokees and others who bad taken part in the rebellion, (his remarks being assented to by all present,) declared in a speech, a note of which is presewed among the records of the council herewith, that the plan was eminently satisfactory, and would entitle its projectors to the everlasting gratitude of the Indians. We may, then, reasonably hope to see this admirable project carried into operation at no distant day. From the able and elaborate report of Superintendent Sells, and the several ageuts in charge of the trihes within this superintendency, we obtain much val-uable information as to their present condition, in reference to both the loyal portions of them, who havebeen refugees from their homes during the war; and the disloyal, who made treaties and engaged actively with the late "southern confederacy." The contrast between their conditiorl now and before the war, whether we refer to either loyal or disloya1,is sad indeed. Most of these tribes had - advanced far in civilization, and their country was well provided with good schools ' and academies. Many of their leading men are to-day thoroughly educated men, of statesmanlike views, fully able to express those views in our language, in a manner which can he excelled in few of on? deliberative assemblies. Their p~!oplew ere rich in real and prrsonal pnqvrty, living in rlw cnjoymc~,to f evvry tl~in:: ncrdrtl tbr their comfort ; aud cuaeidc.rablc wt>alrh had a,.rurnnlared in tl~c Ir~lldsufs onleaf them-the ala\.eholdere-so that tbvv lircd in a d ~ ~ l r o f l u s u r v to which our thriving northern villages are mostly u~accnstomed. "l'heir crops were abundant, hut their chief el~menot f prosperity was stock-raising, and vast herds of cattle were in their hands as a means of wealth. The change is pitiful. Their land has been desolated by the demon of war till it lies hare and scathed, with only ruins to show that men have ever dwelt there. A perusal of the re-ports herewith will satisfy you that these remarks are no exaggeration, pa!ticu-lady as to the Cherokee, Quapaw, and part of the Creclrhands; the c o ~ ~ d ~otf ~ o n affairs in the Choctaw and Chickasaw country is not so serious, for the reason that those trihes went almost unanimously with the rebellion, and of course had no object in destroying their own property; though even there the effects of . the war are distinctly visible. But in the Cherokee country, where tbe con-tending armies have moved to and fro-where their foraging parties have gone at will, spa~<ugne ither friend nor foe-where the disloyal Cherokees, in the ser-vice of the rebel government, were determined that no trace of the homesteads of their loyal brethren should remain for their return, and where the swindling cattle-thieves have made their ill-gotten gains for two years past, the scene is one of utter desolation. Of course, the loyal portions of all of these trihes have suffered most; for they became refugees from their homes, leaving them in the hands of their enemies, and everything that they left was destroyed. A large number of the loyal Indians of all the trihes entered the service of the United States, and many of them sealed their fidelity with their life-blood, while many others are maimed for life. Now that the war is over, the survivors of these loyal hands claim the sympathy and aid of the government. They are anxious to return to their country, hut they have no homes there, and no subsistence. They areutterly destitute, andentirely dependent upon the gnvernmentfor food and clothing. In another season, if timely assistance in the way of agricultural implements and other aid is dorded them, they may become self-sustaining by |