OCR Text |
Show , . 1871, I have the honor to submit the following report of thecondition of. Indians and Indian affairs at this agency. The number of Ute Indians who habitually frequent Denq-er and vicinity, and who refuse to go on tlie reservatton setaside for the Titbe-guaehe, Muache, Capote, Weminuche, Yampah, Grand !diver, and Uintah bands of Ute Indians by the treaty concluded March 2,1865, is about 460. This does not include the followers of Kaii-e-ache and Sha-wa- no, both of which chiefs occasionally come to Denver with their bands, and rareiy visit their agency, (the southern.) The Indians under my charge, and with whom I have mostly to deal, call themselves Ne-rava Utes, and are led by Washington, Colorado, Ti-ah, Jobu, Jack, Wau-zits, and Un-ga-pi-as, all of whom wear the badges of aboriginal royalty in the shape of medals given them by officers of the Depart- * ment, and to .all of whom (except Colorado, whom I regard as a very shabby genteel specimen of a big chief, and who always comes alone, wrapping himself in the solitude of his own originality and in a very filthy blanket, when he desires to consult with me) I generally have the pleasure of addressing myself in council. I do not intend, iu this re-porl, to specify the allnost innumerable occasions for meetiugs of this kind which have occurred during my brief administration, most of which have been for the purpose of establishing the right of proper@. In some of the cases Indians were the complainants, but in the majority of instances white men have been in search of redress for trespass and larcenv committed bv tke Indians. I~~couductiin~eiv estinationso f such ru~ootr;lc ll~estio~1 ~s not hr ulde t o a ~ : ~mi lS ielf of r~;:~.isistt~noefe t l ~ eJr corntrd gentlen~en inentiooetl above, but ha\-e pursuru rbe only course by whici~,i u n ~ yju dg~ttrnt,I n s aurhority roltlcl be susrain~dn uit the abuse rorret.ted, rtnn~rlyt,o ~ X I I I J ~a1P1 rhief9ctas l~nrtiesre spo~~niUfio.r t l~en ~ialredso f fi~lloweraH, I I I ~t o lnake ~ I I R~ ~ f l j n d iiln~d=i~ itlunlC te directly respo~lsiblef or shortcomings, or the object of reward ~ n cdom - mendation for exemplaq conduct. (I .am free to say that during my term of office, I have had liuz few occasions to express my approbatiou of t,he Beroic or self-sacrificing deeds of any member of this offshoot from the family of the great Ne-va-va.) I do not find among my Utes any instances worth recording of individual heroism or honesty, and I am forced to the conclusion (paiuful at it may be) that the lndian of the nresent dav is not given to uerformances of which either of those attri- 1 ~,II&. i r i ; ~v bnconiitgnt. 0 1 1r i~eco lltrar1,l liud n~uungt1 tc11~1 nnvhd rvrir; mnng i~icorablecaxrxofk lu),to~u~ui;i,au:Id t otal waut of t h ~ ~t r i l t i t~nlo which inirl~t be c.vnevtrd from the wards of a beneficent (;orernlur~~t. If there Ys any reily to the efforts made to feed and clothe t,hem, it invariably takes the shape of a murmur; and my red children cast out ntterauces that coulcl only be prompted bg an in-dmelling spirit such as is depicted as residing in the breast of Oliver Twist, when he dared to brave tlie mrath of. Bumble, and ask for more. I hare endeavored to make them believe that the amount allowed me for their subsistence is ample, ($425 per month,) but without success. During the latter part of September, I had abou't thirty lodges here, and feeling my inability, to care for them, I persuaded them to go to the buffitlo range a mouth earlier than tliey had intended. If their hunt proves successful they will not probably need to be provided by theGovernrnent with anything except a little flour, sugar, coffee, a.nd tobacco, a blanket apiece, an11 canvas for some twentv lodges. iu order to keeu them from suEerin.e, . I am ik'ormrd l q r n r n ~ ~frr&s ilteir prexent C: IUI~It h:~t t he^. :IT? 1~11vin:: i~idifireuts ueeeaa in Ilmiti~~,",an~l,trhhaetx expeet to rcturo hrrenbout |