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Show I 14 REPORT OF THB COMMIBSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. fully studied, with a riew to srruring the highest degree of exactness consiateut with the aatore of the subiect. Ko u~~uleesnineta t~~orfc t he I situatiori has been softened. No suppression ha; been permitted grith any thought of reliev~ugt he service from odium therehy. On theother hand, the viore agreeable aspects have,been presented, ifnot in a skep-tical, at least not IU a sanguine spirit, for it is known and painfully ap-preciated how obstiuate are the faults of character with which those who would irumove the condition of the Indian have to deal: how d e losive i3 ofreuiin~csth e alywar:tncr of i~npror.rmeur;a ud l~o'ier nsy the relapse to i ~ ~ d<~ lRrIuI Cc~vt lce. \Tithin the past Sear tho I~r(liaoU i3ifire has seeu the l~nhitro,f indus t r~of twoin~nor t ;t~ri~be~st. whiel~Il nd 1n81de 1 a progress really e o ~ ~ l ~ n c ~a~ndd aele~eni 'tn~d wiral~leto b,ard ~r l t :s~~pl )or t and iatlt.~,r~~(lentcerer,i bly shal;en by the cntaatrol~l~ofe a tutt~ll oss of I crops from drought and the ravages of grasshoppers; the progress of the people completely arrested thereby ; and largenumbers driven ott'tcr hunting and fishing, from which they will not ea,sily or speedily be re-called. Such calamities are apt enough to discourage and demorali~e communities that hare madelarge acsumulatious, and, having been loug in habits of industry, are not easily moved from them. But to a peo-ple just emerging from barbarism, making their first painful eforts at agriculture, ignorant and superstitious, with bo resource andno reserve, it could hardlg- be a eubject of wonder or blame if such s calamity as the utter destruction of their crop should u~ido the beneficial work of years and throw them back in complete discouragement upon courses which it vas hoped they had abandoned forever. It is always a weary work to lift any man or people from degmd~t,ionto self-respect, self-re-straint. and self-reliance: while with the Indian of this continent we ~~~ I I : ~VVt lie cxct.ptio~~t~tll itl$olry of 11 nnr~lre< il~*~tlartlryiv inl, a11111 1;ihits sir~yularlyi ~~co~npatiwbilte11 ~:ivilizwll brr~~orf ,l iii. :IIIIIi lldlldtl?.. I{ut sucll eo~~siedmti(:~IYn Lsh ese nfonl rrnron fin- n~o~lemt. .i nanct ic8i-patioll~, n ot tin' relaxing 1.1Yort. 1Sre11w ere it hol~ele~lso reil:ut\ the rucrl and the niou~o~ olf ';^ sil~glrt~ .il~II(OsI I. 11n1lert l~eo ~~tr(ooil the Cov-crlrlncnt frou the life :~ndth e da.;~rol~t's iiv;ln..t? s,. ir rno~ll(sl till bo t l~eiu-tercst ;lnd the duty of the nation to orgrl~~iz:len d mailltaill all in~r t~ns-ir~ ls: ervice litr thk* instructio~o~f thedr pcol>lcinthe arts of i n~l u~r~: y n~~life. in the houe and reasonable exuectaiion that another .g.e neration may be ka~edf1 .01; I~evuminga pest aub a S C O I I ~ ~toC thc~us~l \~:ilcl1n1 to t11.d larger comn~oniryu pon n l ~ i ~t:l~l ~e) .a re ru be thronsn, their trnditio~lal ruoralitv ul~lmrned.t l~cirtr ibal ;tad social bonds dissolved. all tll;:t rl~cru was of "good in the& native ckaracter and condition compl'etely lost., and , with only such substitute for all this as we shall now give them. I A FEW GENERALIZATIONS. The Indians within the limits of the United States, exclusive of those in Alaska, number, approximately, 300,000. (a) They rnay be divided according to their geographical location, or range, into five grand divisions, as follows : In Mir~nesota ant1 Stut,es east of the Mississippi River, about 32,600; in Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian Territory, 70,650; in the Territories of Dakota, Mouttana, Wyoming, and Idaho, 66,000 i in Nevada and the Territories of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Aneona, 84,000; ahd on the Pa,cific slope, 48,000. (b) In respect to the three liues of railroarls-built or projected- Betxeeu the-States and the Pacitic Ocean, vie, the northern, central, |