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Show XXXIV REPORT OF TEE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS camp, about three miles from Seneca, Ma., on the Qnapaw Reserra-tion. I found the sickness that had prevailed since their arrival in the Territory rapidly abating. Joseph had two causes of dissatisfaction, which he presented to notice in plain, unmistakable terms. He com-plained that his surrender to General Miles was a condit.iona1 surrender, with a distinct promise that he should go back to Idaho in the spring. The other complaint was that the land selected for him on the Quapaw Reservation was not fertile, and that water was exceedingly scarce on it ; that two wells had beendug to a depth of 60 to 70 feet without reaching water; and that he did not like the country. He thought it, unhealthy, and a very hard place for an Indian to earn his living by tiUing the. soil. He was pointed to the Modocs, who are his neighbors, and shown that they were actively engaged on their farms, and that they were prospering and getting ahead in the world. After reflecting on the matter, and with the view of meeting his ex-pectations, if it were possible to do so, with your consent I took him, with his interpreter and chief Eusescruyt (Bald-Head), with me about 250 miles. I traveled with him in Kansas and the Indian Territory for nearly a week and four~dh im to be one of the moat gentlemanly and well-behaved Indians that I ex-er met. He is bright and intelligent, and is anxious for the welfare of his people. The only location t,hat seemed to please him is situated a few miles west of the Ponca Agency, where the Shas-lraskia empties into Salt Creek. The land is fertile and the country is a beantifiil one, with sufficient timber for all practical purposes. When be gives up the hope of returning to Idaho, 1 think he will choose the location I have named. The Nee Perc6s are very much superior to the Osages and Pamees in the Indian Territory; they are even brighter than the Poncas, and care should be taken to place them where they will thrive. The extinc-tion of Joseph's title to the lands he held in Idaho mill be a matter of great gain to the vhite settlers in that vicinity, and a reasonable COIII-pensation should be made to him for their surrender. It will be borne in mind that Joseph has never made a treaty with the United States, and that he has never swrendered to the government the lands he claimed to own in Idaho. On that acconnt he should be liberally t,reated upon his ha1 settlement in the Indian Territory. Sooner or later the rem-nant of the tribe that went to Canada, will return, and it will be proper and expedient to place t,hem with Joseph's band. The present unhappy condition of these Indians appeals to the sym-pathy of a very large portion of the American people. I had occasion in my last annual report to say that 'L Joseph and his foilowers have shown themselves to be brave men and skillful soldiers, who, with one exception, have observed the rules of civilized warfare, and have not mutilated their dead enemies." These Indians were encroached upon by white settlers on soil they believed to be their own, and when |