OCR Text |
Show LXIY REPORT OF THE COXSIISBIONER OF INDIAX AFFAIRS. for three years ha6 made annual a.ppropria.tions for their maiot,enance and wpport thereon. It has been hoped that the advantages of the looat,io~se~le cted for this band of Nez Perc6s in the Indian Territorj- would be such as to engender in them a spirit of enterprise and emulation, which after a few years would make them coml~arativelyc ontented with their new home. This hope, however, has not been realized, and although, since the time of their slurencler, these people have exhibited a quiet and unmurmuring subu~issionto the inevitable, aud hare manifested a conscientious desire to obej- '11 lams and regulations provided for their government, yet as each year passes numerous petitions and nrgeut requests come from them praying to be returned to their old home and relatives. Their cll~ieat nd peaceable coudnct since the surrender, andtheir efiorts to be law-abiding aud self-supporting are commendable, and under the cir-c~~ rnstanceresm arkdble. The larger propol-tion of the Xez Perc6 tribe are located on tbe reser-vation in Idaho, and as %rille this tribe has been a strict observer of all treaty convenants wit~h the government. They were active in their efforts to subclue the outbreak of Chief Joseph and his band, and in the battle wit.h their kindred some of them were killed and others vounded. Joseph and his baud appear to be the only ones of the tribe who have ever engaged iu hostility a'gainst the whites. Xot in the least excusing or atteluptiug to palliate the crimes alleged to have bee11 conlmitted by them, it is bnt ftrliir ta say that their warfare was conducted with a notioe-able absei~ce of savage barbarity on t.heir part, and that they persist-ent& claim that ~ h e tuhe y surrendered to General Miles it mas with the express stipulation that they should be sent back to Ick~ho. Whether this alleged stil~nld,tionbe true or not, i t is a fact that their unfortunate location near Fort Leavenaortb, when in charge of the military, and the influences of the climate where they are now located in the Indian Territory; have caused much sickness among them; their ranks hare been sadly depleted, aud it is claimed that if they are much longer com-pelled to remain in their present situation, the entire band will become virtually extinct.. It h now about f i ~ e siuoe the surrender, and a sufficient time has probably elapsed to justify the belief that no concerted egort will be taken to avenge wrongs alleged to hare been perpetrated by these people so many years ago. Theband now numbers only about 322 souls, and the reservation in Idaho is ample to accommodate the^^^ comforts. bly, in addition to those who are already there, who are substantially self-supporting and who have enough to spare a portion for their less fortunate brethren, and, as I understand, arb willing to give them such aid. The deep.rooted love for the "old home," which is so conspicuous among them, and their longing desire to leave the warm, debilitating climate of the Indian Territory for the more healthy and invigorating |