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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XXXI respects, except that its distance from the Missouri inl-olaed increased cost of transportation. After looking in other directions, and making an offer of money or cattle if the chiefs would select some location nearer the river, and failing to obtain their consent, the agency Fas finallj- lo. cated by the commission on White Clay Creek. For fuller particulars in regard to both locations, I h e th e honor to refer )-ou to the ~vport of the Sioux commission, page 156 of appendix. Upon the settlement of the question of location, the department adx-er-tised for proposals to erect buildings at White Clay, and the loaest re-sponsihle bid was three and one-half times greater than the cost of pre-cisely similar buildings heretofore erected on the Missouri River; conse-quently these bids were all rejected. An examination was made of the buildings at the old Spotted Tail and Red Cloud Agencies in Nebraska. There had been some thou.ghts of selhg these buildings on the removal of the Indians last year, but the result of the examiuation proved the wisdom of holding them, as they were found to be in good condition and well worth remoriug. Accordingly they were taken down care-fully and removed by 5G wagons and 112 yoke of oxen, forming Red Cloud's portion of the outfit of last year. Thirty carpenters were im-mediately engaged to erect t.he buildings, to be ready on their arrival at the new location. Advertisement for proposals for the transportation for Red Cloud's annuiw goods and supplies was made in the usual way, but as the cost of the transportation computed at the lowest bid amounted to $47,500, the bids were rejeoted and 100 wagons, complete for the purpose, were bought at a wst of $6,200, together with 200 sets of double harness, at a cost of about $4,400, thus enabling the Indians to do their own trans-portation at a aery large saving to the government, and leaving mate-rial on hand for any future transportation needs. Soon after the rejection of these bids, parties thinking to further the interests of transportation men, purposely set &e to the grass on the route between Rosebud Landing amd Rosebud Agency. Agent Pollock reports that for forty miles westwmd from the Missouri River there is scarcely a blade of grass left. Captain Pratt, of the United States Army, who was at the time engaged in wllecting children for the Hampton school, reported the firing of the prairies, and states. that they were set on fie at innumerable points almost simultaneously, and at plsoas but a few rods apart, with the manifest determination to make the work of destruction thorough and complete. Evidently this method was re-sorted to for the purpose of making a corner in the transportation mar-ket; and the burning of the grass is a serious obstacle in the way of supplying 13,000 Indians with food for the comiug winter. For a dis-tance of more than forty miles it is necessary for each team to carry corn sufficient to feed the animals by the way. This incidellt will serve to enlighten the public as to the nature of the obstacles to be overcome in the Indian service. In consequence of this disastrous fire a base of sup- |