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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 15 liahed with powerful trihes, for the most part lately in hostilit.y, ranging over a territory extending over eight degrees of latitude by twelve in longitude, and with reasonable hopes of their gradual improvement by the judicious espendi-t, ure of the mone,v n.r ovided in comnensation for their cessions of land, and for The final reports of thuse commis--- attention is invited to them as I publislled in the accompaoying documents. I ~ THEATIES RECOMMENDED. 1 Believing that peace can best be maintained with our .Indian tribes, after the 1 whites begin to eneroach upon their ancient hunting grounds, by trenty ar-mneementa. liberal and iust in their ~rovisions,a nd faithfully carried into exe-r l j l ih oy tht ,Ruverrjnjeit; ~ndit s ag;.nts, t h i ~oi ?ificr urge the coutin~~dt~ofc c tltc pulicy w.l.:ell llns met witl~ swh g afifying suweP8 11ui.ing tllr pr1.8en1 and 1 . ~ "y~m1 r :. md the roadi r i~~of! t l ~ t ! I no'iuna of' I<an.roa v~.r-81,s first uuon the 8 attention. Intermingled as the Kansas reservations are with the publiE lands, , and surrounded in most cases by white settlers, who too often act upon the prin-ciple that an Indian has no rights that a white man is bound to respect, they ! I are injured and annoyed in many ways. Their stock are stolen, their fences broken down, their timber destroyed, their young men plied with whiskey, and their women debauched, so that while the less civilized are kept ina worse than savage state, having the crimes of civilization forced upon them, those further advanced, and disposed to honest industry, are discouraged beyond endurance. In nearly every tribe the majority desire to remove southward to thq Indian conntry, and the sale of their Kansas reservations znd improvements will fur-nidh the means of purchasiug and establidhing them in new homes. I see no ot,her alternative than to provide for their removal as soon as practicable. Whatever may be the issue of the suit in the Supreme Courtin l.elat,ion to the que~tionso f taxation and citizenship, we ehall know with whom we are to treat among the tribes which have taken land in severalty, or taken preliminary steps ton.ards citizenslrip; and as ro the other tribes, no obstacle exists to im-mediate actiou: Should the department snataiu the eame views, measures will he taken to carry them into practical effecr. Treaties nre imperatirelj iteeessary with some of the Indians in Idaho, and measures dhot~ld be taken at an early day to effect the necessary arrangements; and a proposition is under consideration for bringing upon the Flathead reserva-tion in &lantana, vliich is amply large, or upon a new reservation in northern Idaho, various kindred bands in that locality and the eastern part of Washington Territory. It has not been the policy of the government to make treaties with the tribes inhabiting the region ceded by AIexico, although it has been done in some cases ; but it may he found advisable to do so in the ease of sundry tribes in New Mexico, whom it is deaimhle to place upon reservations. Certain hands of Sioux in northeast Dakota remain to he treated with, and suggestions to that effect can be laid before you as soon as the pressing current duties of this office will allou. of a careful cousideration of the subject. The proposed negotiation? rill he accompanied with some considerable ex pense, for which estirn ites will be made and submitted for your consideration. KO serious hostilities hare occurred during the year between the Indians and whites, although numeroqs cases of depredations by members of tribes not here-tofore treated with, or casual raids by them upon frontier settlements or emigrant trains, have occurred as usual. In all the region from the British possessions to the gnlf of California, with the exception of the region near where the boundary 1 of Idaho and Oregon meers the Nevada line, the centre portion of Arizona where the Apaches are always in hostility with both whites and ocher bdiaun.md the |