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Show I REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XXIX the consent of these Indians, and for their own good, which should les-sen the cost of the transportation of their annnities and supplies for all future t h e ; and, with this object in view, the act organizulg a commis-sion was passed. General D. S. S t ~ n l eU~. ,S . A., 3. N. Haworth, late Indian agent, and Rev. A. L. Riggs, of Santee, n-ere appointed a commissioll under the act, and they -sere iustr~~ctetod visit these Indims and to see ahether their consent might not be obtained to the establishment of an agene nearer to the Visso~uRl iver, or, in case tha,t conld not be obtained, they were then to examine personally such locations as these Indians might choose for themseh-es, and report thereon. At your request I aooompanied the commission, in order that the department might act quickly and make up, as far as possible, for the lost time caused by the delay of Congress in passing the Indian appropriibtion bill. The first council was held with the Spotted Tail Indians at the Old Ponca Agency, on Sat~wdayJ, uly 6. Spotted Tail spoke for the tribe, and, having rtn eye to the maintenance of his chieftainship, was appr-ently as hpatient for immediate removal to the locality selected by him as the youngest chief in the tribe. The tenor of his remarks on this oo-oasion, howe~erh, aa baen widely misrepresented by the press and other reports of them which do great injustice to the good sense of this chief. During the conference the Indians withdrew from the council for a brief h e , after vhich they returned and listened patiently to the mem-bera of the commission, and to the explanations made by mxself of the time it would probably take to remove them properly and settle them. Spotted Tail remained until late in the evening in conference with the commissioners, and returned early next morning. He wduld hare gone with them to the Red 0101113 Agency if the proposition had been made to him in council. He did, hornever, send "Swift Bear," his trusted lieutenant, and several other chiefs, overland to Red Cloud to assist the comnrission in their work at that agency. I am thus particulaz, as the spirit of these Indians has been gravely misunderstood. - It was clearly ascertained at this conference that their present lo@ tion was verg unsatisfactory to these Indians on account of alkane water and soarcity of wood. Spotted Tail himself considered the looit-tion nnhmlthy on that account, and had lost quite a number of'the young people of his tribe by death, which he attribt~tent o that oanse. The commission, therefore, reluctantly concluded that it was best to. consent to the remoxol-ao1f the Indians, provided the location they had selected should be f o~~nond examination to be in all respects snitable. Snch an examinatiion ~ a m8ad e, with satisfactory res~~ltasn,d the com-mission located the agency at the junction of Rosebud Creek and White River. The agency has been'called the Rosebud Agency, and is about 65 miles west of Rosebud landing, on the Missouri River, which landing is about 20 miles south of the point where the White River empties into |