OCR Text |
Show REPORTS OF AaENTS IN COLORADO. was oooceroed, ss presented first to them, veiy little elevating or refining was discernible. Association with the .rile and drunken has imprinted lessons upon their charsoter not easily &aced. Nothing but persistent effort and the wholesome restrents of law are sdeqoste to the task of Leadiug such a people into the light, and nothing hut the hearty acceptance of the principles of our Christian eirili~ationw ill make thsm desirable citizens. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient mrvsnt, C: G. BELKNAP. L'uited States Indian Agent. The COMMISSIONERO F INDIAAFNFA IRR. LOBP INOS INDIAANGE NCY, Colorado, October 89, 1877. SIR: On the 1st day of October, 1876, I entered npon the discharge of my duties as In-dian %gent, relieving thn Rev. H. F. Bond, and eonse uently this annual report for the yesr ending Septemberl, 1877, ia the first one exhihitedlyme, and covers only a period of eleven months. My first impressions were that I had s wry troublesome olses of Indisns to deal with, for s t ' the time of my arrival at the sgenoy the stock of provisions for issue, excepting only beef, was well-nigh exhausted,snd I was met with s shower of oamplsints on tbat score. Bot befare'loug the arrival of fresh supplies served to pacify the Indians, and, if we exolnde the Uneapahpre Perk grievance, of which more is ssid farther on. I may safely state that no complaints of any serious import have reached me since that time. Owing to the fact that the contractor had failed in business, theagency buildings had not been eomplstsd, and were in s most unsatisfactory condition. Much of the time of the agency carpenter is occupied in patching them np so ss to render them habitable. The buildings, so called, are in fact only so many missrablyeonstructed adobe huts ; loeonvem-eot, nnaafe, and dirty to the last degree. Authority, however. 6as been granted to con-struct a residence for the agent, and two shops, one for the csrpenter and the other for the blaeksmitb, and the completion of these boildings will, witlnout doubt, not only lend mnoh to the appearance of the agency: but also add very materially to the comfort and convenience of the agent and em loyes It would be well, in my opinion, to erect a echool-hoose at this agency, for, even if teexpkiment of educating the Utes should prove to be of no avail, the buildingcould, nevertheless, be advantageously used for other purposes, and no money would be lost to the goyernmeot thereby. The preeent store.hoose is quite unfitted for the purpose for which it is designed. It is much too small, and is in constant danger of falling to the ground. Oursy, the head chief of the Utes, who is noquestionably the most intelligent as well as the most progressive Indian of the whole tribe, now occupies s regular dwsllinphonse. This house (together with other buildin s far his use) has been completed only within a short lime, and is the most oomplete an% auhstaotial residence within the agency limita. The whole f the work was executed by the sgenoy carpenter and other smployds, and in its ereotion th&e wwas no expenditurn made of publio money. Touohiog the matter of the edneatian of the Utes, I re ret to have to report that no pro-gress has been made in this direction during the yesr. \ b i l e I have grave donbts as to the praetioability of establishing and maintaining a srhool which wnnld be really beneficial to the Indisos, still 1 ehonld certainly have tried the experiment had there been any build-ing suitable for ~ohoolp urpoees. A mere day-rohool would. I am convinoed, be of but little benefit to them, it, indeed, it would not be worse than useless, when the labor snd expense entailed are taken into considerstion. In order to advance the education of the children they should be eutirely removed from the influences with which they are surrounded in the wigwam, nud be graduslly weaned to the rnannsra and customs of civilization by being brought in constant sssodstion wlth white people. , With the estsbiishment of a boardin school somethic in this way might possibly be accomplished, for there are many brig& ohtidren among f8e Utea who would seemingly make apt scholars. Some few of the better-informed ohiefs aod headmen ere in favor of education, but the great majority areeither in-different or else strenuously opposed to what they cozsider s harmful innovation. The prejudice apainrrt the performance af roanual labor which exists among Indians sa s class is, perhaps, In no instance so strongly marked as in the Ute.. He collsiders it s dis-grace to labor, and ridicules the very idea of his ever being required to do aoything of the kind. The child who has been trained under the influences of civilization and taught to regard labor as nu honorable pursuit is seldom ar never proof against the sneers sod taunts of his Indian associates, and i. pretty sure to yield to the common prejudice, and before arriving at m~nhoode xhibit as strong so aversion to toil ss the moat ignorant of thsm. The Utea are in the habit of going out on brief hunting expeditions over their extensive reservation, between "issne days." and in this way contribute very materially toward the eopport of themselves and their families. The practice, however, of issuing rations every seven days iqstead of s ~ e r yte n days, ns \vasfarmerly the custom, will nodouhtedly interfere wlth theseexpeditions,'and theIndians will, consequently, becomestill more dependent upon the Government for their support than they already are. I believe that it would be well to return'to the old rule of issuing rations e x r y ten days. |