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Show ~ REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 141 I I UTAH SUPERINTENDENCIES. I Xo. 41. 8eptember 20, iS70. SIR: 1 have the honor to submit my annual report of the wnditionof Indian affairs in the superintendency of Utah. There has been a marked adrancement in the pursuits of civilized life on the part of some of the Indians of Utah during the past year. Some of the Indians are in no better condition than at the date of my last annual report. The Western Shoshones hare cultivated, diwing the present year, several acres of land, the use of which for two years, without rent, has been secured to them by verbal agreement. These Indians hare been during the year attached to the Nerada superintendenc~f,r om which report of their condition will of course be made. The northwestern Shoshones inhabit the northwestern portion of this Territory. They have no permanent place of abode, but rore among the mountains and valleys whererer they find the best hunting and fishing. They r~~l r ivn;tlo~ r1 ;ind. h few-of tl~emw ork for fdrmt?rs as laborers and henliara of cattle, but most ot' them do 110 mannnl laljor. These 1ndi;lus will not ul~clrrtalie tlre cultivation of laud I)? themuelve~, but if, by Government emploj6s, a farm should be openkd for them; many of them would labor upon it, and in a few years would be,compe-tent to carry on a farm without assistance. To accomplish tlus, how-ever, they must be moved from their present locality, as most of the arable land in that part of the Territory is already taken up by white citizens. The northwestern Soshones have a good sdpply of horses and a few cow& Thev number about twelre hundred aersons. The Goship shoshones inhabit that part of ~ t a whh ich lies between Great Salt Lake and the western boundar~o f the Territor5-. They are, at present, among the poorest Indians iu the superintendency, but if they continue to labor as they have done thrs year, they will eventually become the richest. They have cultivated this year sixty acresof land. With some instruction,, but with no manual assistance, they have plowed, fenced, and cultivated this land, and have raised a fair crop. Their farms are upon unsurveyed and detached tracts of land not yet taken no bv citizens. I resoeetfnllv recommend that one section of A " land, now unsurveyed and un6ccupiea by whites, be set wart for their use. Upon this land most of these Indians could be collected without any expense to the Government. With proper encouragement in their farming I believe they will soon become self-sustaining. No complaints have reached me of begging, stealing, or depredating on the part of these Indians, except they killed some cattle that frequently injured their crops. Their country abounds with rabbits and with nuts of the piiion tree, which furnish them with a large amount of food. They have a small number of horses. about twelve oxen. and twentv cows. The Goship Shoshones n u ~ u b c r ' i ~ h~t urdred. The \Yel,er I.te Indians lire in the ralles of Salt Lake, aud aul~aist by hunting, fishing, and by use of such supplies as are fkuished them in this city. They do not cultivate any land. Some of these Indians promised to work thiu year, but I could secure for their use no arable land in the valley, and they refuse to go outside the valley. They have |
