Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1881

Page 83

156 REPORT OF AGENT IK UTAH. During the haying season many of the Iudiaos assisted io the work. Not only did they assist d y e mplo~Baiu puttiog up h a r for sgenoy use, b u t independent of this they harvested a snpply of about, twenty tons for their own stock, to 1,s nsed during the winter and spring work. The moat of the outtiog of grain and hay has hen,t,ofore been done by agency emp1,lo~-6antnh e Indiaoe are unzr.oustomed to the use of iunehiuary, such as realrereand mowere. But tllia year I have is.ned to such Iudians as were moat likely to use them a dozen &min-cradle8 with rakes, &c., 8nd have baeo gratified to find that nmny of them have been uaed with considerable diligence, thus nitltarially aurtailiug the labor uauaiiy performed by the sgeooy of white atnploy6a. FREIGHTING BY INDIAKS. Laat fall the department kindly fnrnished the Indians with 25 freight wagons, and this gear 7 "lore have been purohased far them. It was expected that these wagons would be an indncement to them to transport their awn nnnoity goods and supplies. aud in this me were not disappointed. Almost all ttbu transportn-tioo from Salt Lake City to this agency, a distance of PO0 miles, over one of the worst roads in the Territory, was dune hy our Indians with thsir own teams,aod I oansafaly say that every p o ~ ~ owdou ld have been t,ransported by them were i t not for the delay in the arriral of the goods, which made it difficult for teams to moss the ulountaina through the snow. An11 in this conneotioo I would remark that I never hewe received goods it1 better condition than were those delivered by my Indians lait fall. A num-ber a€ Indian teama nre now on the road with t,his year's freight, and i t is expeated that they r i l l do all their own fraighting this season, and possibly transport a fair por-tion of thes.tpplienfornishad for the White River Utea. The advantages of fur1,iahiug Indiana with wagons is manifest in many particnlars. It is en incentive to them to dispose of their little pouiea, whioh for practical work are comparatively useless, snd secure horses or osttle fitted for work. Aside from this, wagons and agricultural im-plements of soy value have a tendency loiusnre yarnlaneooy of loaation and lead them to abandon their nomadic habits. Ssreral of the Indiana am devoting their attention to stock-raising, and althoogh they are constantly ohliged to use their own oattle fir aubaiatenoe, owing to the very limited supply of beef furnished by the government, they still have in the neighbor-hood of fifteen huudred hesd of stock osttle. SCIIOOL. 0s tho IRI of . T R I I u ~ 0~11~1 RCI~UoOpIe ned. 1 runtract Iiavillg beeu nojade h a twe ~ ~Ilbl" deparrment aud the Presbyterian Board of lluma hlteaioua, llod a ~ e h a obl l l i ldin~I~ :~ving b e ~ oer a.ted fur the tmrnoee. \Ye h;td r r ~ e r r e dto cuutnlroce o~erat ioonn I I I I P I ~ IoI ~r two earlier than this; b i t owing to nnavoidable delays our buildink was not completed and we were disappointed. We were provided by the board with three school em-plus8a, a principal or male teacher, s lady assistant, and s, cook. Doring the first month the largest number of Indian popils in attandanoe was 13 and during the next two montbs the att,ttendanae,instrad of increasing, diminished, until finally llot a pupil remained. This was discooraging; we had hoped for excellent results sod had certainly failed. The Indiaus made many excuses for not sending them children to school. Thev were ienorant and suoerstitions and feared tha t harm ~ u i e hot ome t o tllrlr boy- nryd pirls, GII the Isiluro ih ntj opiniuu a11d tLxr of other8 WBR';IIIO nnaiuly t o the ehnvwtcr and inrapneitg of the prin.eilriil t r s r l ~ rf~o,r , ~ f i o rh e lrfr,tLa lndy te8.arl~er.adaiatcd bv" no"v elc.rk. bad little d;lfirultr in ix,du~:ivw2 ; Itttliilu cl~ildrento al - to!,d arbaol, anal, o~tnrht o our ~atislactiuo,20o i thvru rcu>&td In regular urrendnnr.e uutll a, hod rioaed,.lune 1. T l ~ opr ugrers ulsdr aud iutcrrsr mno~rorrcdI ,$ tl.c.srrh~l-drw, was nlarled. 'I'be~claoull ,id6iatr if euutil,urd tu be ;,snr<,r%a, s I alo.;ls,.bslia\ed it would bo if properlg lllaoaged. 'I'llo parelots I~:b\e Ltcoro~u rulllewbirtintrrehlnl, oluch of the snnpumtitton 3ud ~,rjtldicc hnn been ovvrrunw, and allendy aovoc of 1110 nut)il8 are b a k j n s when ~ r b o o lv ill rcuvcn stld rxltrria their sillinrnesa and t ledl lc t o 6ti-d. - INDIALN POLICE. Frequent reference has been made, both in my own report8 snd in thoae of my chief of police, to the difficallties of persuading Indians with the most suitable qualifiastions tO undertake theduties of police a t this sgenoy, and in the organization of the present foroethisdifficulty masespeoiallg manifest. Notwithstanding this,aforceof FJmembers, afterward increased to 10, mas arganinsd,aod in hut few iontanoea have we oease to complain of inefioienoy or lack of interest. We were fortunate in securing a8 captain of police an Indian who is energetic and enthueisstic and possessed of more than ordi-narggood judgment. The polioe have s, wholesomeinflnenoeou the tribe, and although srresta have not been frequent, I em inclined to think there has not been frequent cause, as the Iodians pretty generally understand that their offaoses snddiscrepaucios will be reported and therefore mrungs which might otherwiaa be committed ere sup-pressed.