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Show I REPORT OF THE COMJdISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XI11 By this method not only is the amount paid them for transportation so much really saved to the Indians themselves, but the difierence be-tween the rates paid Indiana and thosecharged by white transportation . contractors results in an actual annual saving to the govermnent of sereral thousand dollars. Skill and care in the management of their teams, dispatch in the handling and for warding ofthe freight, and abso-lute honesty and trustworthiness in the care of the goods in tramihc, have characterized the Indian trinsportation service. Not a package bas been lost; not a case or bale broken open or tampered vith. The suc-cess of the enterprise has made it a permanent feature in the policy of Indian cirilizatiou. 1VAGONS BOB. BARMNG AND FREIGHTING. Up to a very recent period, but few wagons were furnished for the Indian service, and then generally only for the use of the agents and their employBs at the 'headquarters of the agencies, to enable them to perform t,he necessary work of hauling fuel for agency buildings a,nd fodder for the gorernment stock. Within the past five years it has been found advisable to furnish the Indians with wagons for farming purposes, and for freighting their ovn supplies, which latter pursuit, aa has already been shown, has beoome one of considerable magnitude. . The following sbtement of the number of wagons provided for the purposes above .stated, since the 1st of July, 1879, will indicate more clearly t.han it could be done in any other manner the growing interest of the Indians in the cultivation of the soil, and the transportation of their subsistence supplies, goods, &c. :-For the Blackfeet Agency, 15; Ohey-enne and Arapaho, 57; Cheyenne River, 67; Crow, 14; Crow Creek, 38 ; Devil's Lake, 36 ; E'landreau, 30 ; Fort Berthold, 35 ; Fort Belknap, 14 ; Fort Hall, 10; Fort Peck, 10; Green Bay, 43 3; Great Bemaha, 2; Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita, 27 ; Klamath, 18 ; Lemhi, 19; La Pointe, 52 ; Leeoh Lake, 16 ;. Los Piuos, 2 ; Lower Bn1l6, 44 ; Mackinac, 25 ; Mal-heur, 4; Moqu~iPs ueblo, 2; Navajo, 11; Nevada, 25; Omaha, 50; Osage, 95; Pawnee, 68; Pine Ridge, 51; Ponca, 42; Pottawatomie, 10; Qua-paw, 12; Rosebrid, 50; Sac and Fox, 4; Santee, 105; Shoshone an& Bannack, 123 ; Sisseton, 135 ; Standing Rock, 51; Tule River, 22; Uin-tah, 32; Umatilla, 20; White Earth, 38; Wiunebago, 10; Warm Springs, 5; Yakama, 10; and Paukton, 7-a total of 1,555 wagons. Harnesa was also furnished with the wagons-a double set with each one required for farming, and two sets for each one to be used in freighting. Nearly three thousand wagons, with the necessary harness therefor, ' have been furnished the Indians since 1875, and the flattering prospects of the future, evidenced by the manifestinterest of the Indians in farm- ( ing pursuits, make it almost certain that still larger quantities will be needed by them in the next two years. |
