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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XXXV these encroachments became intolerable they were compelled, in their omn estimation, to take up arms. Joseph now says that the greatest want of the Indians is a system of law by which coutroversies be'h-een Indians, and between Indians and white men, can be settled without appealing to physical force. He says that the want of law is the great source of disorder among Indians. They understand the operation of laws, and if there were any statutes the Indians would be perfectly wn-tent to place themselves in the hands of a proper tribunal, and would not take the righting of their wrongs into their own hands, or retaliate, as they now do, without the law. In dealing with such people it is the duty, and I think it will be the pleasure, of the department to see that the fostering hand of the government is extended toward them, and that it gives them not only lands on which to live and implements of agriculture, but also wholesome laws for their government. THE MODOCS. The Modocs, after their seven months'war in the year 1873, were removed to the Quapaw Reservation in the Indian Territory. They were located upon four thousand acres, purchased for them from the Shawnee reserre. On this land they have been industriously engaged in erecting cabins, fencing land, and cultivating the soil. By patient industry they have cut and hauled rails and made about five miles of good, substantial fence. The soil is somewhat clayey and not easily cultivared; it is not as fertile as the average laud in the Indian Territory, and can only be made to yield a return by hard and well-directed labor. This little band of Indians, now numbering 112 men, women, and children, hare toiled industriously, and have very nearly supported themselves by tilling the soil. They plow and sow and reap-with the same persistent courage with which they fought. They have made great progress in civilization; very many speak English; all wear citizens' dress; they send their children to school; and they are anxious to become entirely selt-siip-porting. They have accomplished more than could have been expected of them at the time of their settlement, and they are now ambitious to subdue more land and bring it under cultivation. On a recent visit to their reservation, the Modocs expressed them-selves anxious to have a school-house built where their settlement is, so that they would not be obliged to send their children ten to thirteen miles to school. They need more agricultural implements and teams to enable them to cultivate a larger portion of the area they occupy. The only trace of barbarism about these Indians remains in the hideous names by which they have become well known to the country. "Bogus Charley" is the chief of the tribe, and is a bright, intelligent man; he is, however, suffering from a pulmonary disease, which threatens to ter-minate his life at an early day. There are remaining at the Klamath Agency in Oregon about as many Modocs as are located at the Quapaw Agency, and are all very desirous of |
