OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF TEE COaXISSLONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XXI PENAL RESERVATIONS. . . . . I n 18'79o ne of my predecessors called attention to the necessit,~o: f : providing a more effeotnal way to punish Indians who ma,y engage in hostilities against th* government, commit crimes against one another, or who.may become dangerous to the peace on reserrations ; and he earnestly urged t.he establishment of penal settlements for this pnr-pose. No action was taken by Congress on the subject, ind I now again in?-ite attention to the matter in the hope that provision to this end may be made. At least two such reservations should be created: one on t,he Pacific coast, and one east of the Rocky Mountains; and they ~hould be lo-cated in a good agricultural region. Fort Gibso~k military reservation, in Indian Territory, is suggested as a very snitablelocation for the res-ervat. ion east of the Rock1 Mounains. It embraces 5,541 acres, or a little more t l ~ m8 s qnare miles, and is thus described in an 1' Outliue description of United States military posts and stations,)' published by anthority of thewar Department: The post is situated in the Cherokee Nation, upon the aanth bank of the Neosho, two and s. haif miles above its confloetloe with the Arkansas. " * There is. soaroely an aore of land, except upon the ranges of high hills aloig the Grand, Verdigris, nod Illioois Rivers, that is not arable and sosoeptible of oultivation. Soil, loam and olay; and will grow well and abundaotlg all kinds of oereala, vegetables, fruit, cottoo, and tobacco. The principsl cropa now raised are ooro, wheat, potatoes, and oatts; frnit (apples, pears, and peaches), of the finest quality, is very pleutifill. The country is wcll watered, and abounds iu springs. The prairies are small, being usually from three to four miles mide. Timber is sosrce, aod growing bnly io the hottoma along the rivers aud bagoua, and on the mountains, but there very densely; it conaiats chiefly of oak, walnut, hickory, pecan, end cotton-wood ; grass, wild prairie, * gmws rank aod heavy, and is cut for hay in the aeasoo in large quantities. " Climate, mild; averaxe temperatore of the seasons for 1868, aa follows : January, Feb-ruary, and Mnrcb, 41° 13; April, May, and Jooe, 619 04; July, Augost, and Septem-ber, 790 41; Ootober, November, and December, 61° 66. The country is generally healthy. Chiila sod fever are very common among the people living in the bottom lands; on t,he high lands bat little sickness is known. A similar suita,ble location west of the Rocky Mountains would not, it is believed, be difficult to find. These penal reservations, or colonies, should be surrounded by a cordon of military posts, and be under the exclusive control of the mi1ita.i-y authorities. On them should be placed all predatory Indians who refuse to recognize treat.y obligations or to go on reservations,and who, by their depredations, e,ndanger the peace and safety of remote fiontier settlemeilts; also, Indians belonging to reservations who commit depredations upon white settlers or other lndia,ns, or who may become turbolent orungovernable, or who may commit crimes for the punishment of which there is at present no anthority of law. Such are crimes com-mitted by one Indian against another, for which, under the existing law, there is, for the most part, no punishment except such as may be meted out by the local law of the tribe, and this is usually the barbarous law of |