OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE COMMIESIOBER OF IXDIAN AFFAIRS. The United St,ates should estsblinh a district ooort with limited orimiod jorisdic-tian a t Mnacogaa or Fort Gibson. The cutting or stealing of timber, htly,or stone, the grazing or raising of atock, and all (Ither w;u,ton and willful trespassing by United States citizens upon lands held in oonbmon or in an-eralty by these people ahould be made a criminal offense, punishable not only byfine (which ia uvually not collectable), bllt also by imprisonment. And aa the United States cannot extend oivil jurisdictioo over tbis country without violat,iug treaty stipolatioos, the Indian agent here should be clothed with authurity eomewhet aitnilar to that of n foreigu consul or cocnmercial agent, that adjudioations iu oivil oases between United States oitieena and Indian oiti- 5WllS uight be alljoatwl before him. As aimple aa this plan is, it wunld, if in~uguratad and carried ouL iu good faith,solve the vexed qnsation of Iudiao matters io this Terri-tory- of one natisn existing aitbin soother-sod enable these people to msiutaiu iu-rdot their own ioatitutions. Aud if the American people were as honest, mngnatbituous, aud just ns tbay are wise, sel6rh, an? shrewd, not another Congress wooid pans with-out iu~ugur a t ings ome snob measure. The buildings of the agency are situated at a point very ineon-veuieut for its business, being about 39 miles from the town of Mus-cogee, and it is necessary for the government to keep the road from Muscogee to the agency in repair, which is done a t an a n n ~ ~eaols t of $600. The Creek Nation has made a proposition to ereet suitable and necessary buildings at Muscogee forthe use of the government and ageney, and take in exchange the present agency building for a school for the freedmen of their nation. The propositiou has been accepted by the department, and preliminary steps have been taken to obtain land suacient to erect said buildings upon; which action has been taken subject to the ratification of the same by Congress. The Indians of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency stillshow a steady improvement. The preseut year has been remarkable for health; and as aconsequence the Oheyennes show an increase of 430, and the Arapahoes 126. One-halfof thecost of subsistence of the Indians of this agency has beenprovided this year by theirownlabor, andthe other half by the gov-ernment. Owing, however, to the entire failure of their crops this sea-son, it is probable that further provision will. have to be made for t.heir necessities. During the gear 42 wagons were purchased by the In-dians themselves and 40 were issued to and paid for by the Indians in labor, making at present 211 wagons at this agency owned by Inilianu. As t.he amount of freigl10ing is limited, 'the agent is sorely taxed to find employment. for these Indians and their teams. In addition to freight. ing, the agent furnishes as much employment as possible to his Indians in making biick, burning lime? hauling stone, &o. The removal of Lit-tle Chief and his band from this a,geucy bas been referred to on page L. The nine diEerent'tribes of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Agericg have, made fair progress, have manifested a disposition to ac-quire the habits of cirilizedlife, and, until the disheartening effect of the drought, took more than usual interest in their fml-work. Alt.hough it was feared that the consolidation of the Indians of the Kiowa and Comanche Agency with the Indians of the Wichita Agency, efleeted in the fall of 1870, might canse some clashing and trouble between the In- |