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Show REPORT OF UTE COMMISS~ON. 175. P. FORTGA FSAXD, Corn., Nm,ember W, 1878. , i GENTLF~IENA: t a meeting of the commission held in Denver September 11, and also by a supplemental telegram dated September 24, 1878, the secretary, socompanied by 1 Lieut. C. A. H. McCauley as escort, was instmeted to "proceed as speedily as pa+ sible to the White River Agency, to complete arran ements already made with U. M. Curtis,.interpreter; to report as to the condition of the Indians and the egricultnrel eapaci* of the country, and to neonre from the Indians, in mriting, their oansent to the sale of that part of the reservation immediately south and meat of the Sau Juan mining district," and then "to proceed to the Uintah Agency viththe same instrue-tiona." In pursumoeof tbeseinshnotions I beg leave topresent the folloming asmy report: Thursday morning, September 12, 1878, Lieutenant MoCauley and myself took the Denver Pacific Railroad to Cheyenne, and thence the Union Pacific to Fort Steele, in all about 284 miles, reaching thelast-nmmed place at midnight.. Major Thornburgh, commander of the post, recei~edu s and kindly %commodated us at his own table. The followin day was ooonpied in securing an outfit with which to make the trip. The ofloers of t%e post placed at our diaposd s, back-board and a pair of mules. At Rawline, some sixteen miles distant, I hired agnide and an extra pair of hones, wXch were sent ahead as a relay. Saturday, September14, rre lqft Fort Steele for the agency, riding tbat dsy about aixty miles. From the fort to Pine Grove, the ranch where the relay awaited U8, is ;tn alkali country, generdly rolling, and with very little ve %e tation save sage-brush and grease-wood. After leaving Rawlins we passed but one onse, snd that is about six-teen miles out. From the grove to Snake River the road emsses the Continental Divide, a seriea of high mesas separated by anoyas of greater or less depth. These table-lands abound in game, and furnish good aummer ranges for ocsktle. Grass and sago-brush are the products of the soil, except on the bmks of an occasional stream, where the cottonwood seems to thrive. Thesecond day we rode about &fifty-onme iles, crossing SnakeRiver Valley to Fortifi-cation Creek. Thirr valley, about two miles wide mt thecrossing, is besntifnlly lacatad, partially protected by high plateaus, and with good mountain pastures st its head. The river is lined with cottonwood and the bottom-lmndwell oovered with grapa. On our return, about eight miles above the river-crossing, we paesed a mild wds-spring, t,he only mineral development of the valley reported. Quite a number of settlen have already looated along the river an Indian trader, etill doing B flourishing business, being the pioneer. The prinkpal ooocupatlon is stock-raismng; the cattle ranging shout the mountain? in summer, and sixty or seventy miles west and south in the winter, vhere the grasa is not covered with anow. Little is done at farming, the set.tler8 having no chance to grind their wheat nor market for their vegetables. But most of the usual crops, except corn, so far as they have been tried, seem to do well. The third day we crossed the Bear Rivet, known on the mmp as the "Yampa." Like the Snake, this vfllley, though sparsely settled, is used principally for cattle-. ranges. The season being short and the demand small, little or nothing is done in the vey of farming. The Indian trader at this post, the nearest to the agency, has a. smaU garden, and snpplied us with fresh tomatoes and very fine potatoes of his own raismg. From this valley to tbe agency, abollt sixty miles, the road eroaaesmonntainmnges of no mean height; but before sundown Tneeday, t+e 17th after riding in four days about two hundred miles, we reached the White Rraer ~ a 6 e yan d the Indian agency. The agent, Mr. N. 0. Meekeri received us very oordiaily, and introduced us to the scanty quarters and poor fare of the sgenoy boarding-house. Wednesday a council was convened, and, as a rewlt, I have t.he pleasure .to submit herewith the written consent of the most of the ohiefa and headmen, viz, thirty-four in number, to "m~h&ever disposition the Ccs otes, Muaohes, and Weeminnohe8 may make" of the sonthem and weatern strips of txe reservation. (See paper marked A.) The Indians were r e T friendly, and wished the Great Father to distinctly nuder-stand that they the Wliite River Utes, do not want to fight nor in any way incurthe displeasure of the whites. In regard to the late murder in Yiddle Park, they disclaim all oonnection. Washington, who was present at the murdler, olaims to hme adviaed Piah against it, but his counsel was disregarded. Pish bas not yet returned to the agency, If he could be caught and puninbed by the government authorities, the effect on the Indians would unquestionably be for the best, and mould have a tendency to prevent an early reDetition of the crime. Mr. Curtis, employed as interpreter by the commission, resented bia report a6 to t.he arable land between the LasPinos and the White~iverlgencies. It is subm~ttsd here~rith, as paper marked B. I also approved his action in proceeding to Middle |