OCR Text |
Show REPORTS OF AGENTS IN UTAH. large pert of it. They ere suBcient to meet the present needs of the agenoy wit.h the exception of a school-house. They are in good repair. Most of them areinamed, tbongh n few of the older building8 are made of logs. The Indians on this r-rvation now number 9% Uint,ah and White RiverUtes-nearly half and half. I find that it vould he more srtt,isfaetory to the Indians and save the agaut mnob trouble if these t,wo tribes could be eonaulidated. The White River Utee receive more subsistence supplies and more annuity goods than the 1Tintahs. Thesetwo tribesoouie to thesame agency and are treated differently in the preseuce of each other. The sgstcm as it is now oouducted is calculated t.o cause jeildouay between the tribes, and ultimately result in serious tron~ble. The chiefs of both tribes wish to be consolidated. I oonfidently hope it will be done as aoon as possihle. h'otvithstanding the friction resulting from this oaese, I6nd that many of the White River Utes who are reported never to have done any farming before this year have followed the example of the more thrifty Wzltahs and cultivated small patubes of land here and there. Thin shows the dispositiou of the White Rivers, though no materiel results will be derived fmm many of their small farms this year. Mwt of the Indians live in their "wiokiups" and cook their foodin the mostprimi-tive ways. Cooking-stoves bave been isaued to some of them but after a short time they abandon them and return to their camp-fires. The majority of the Indirsos dreaa in leggings and blankets. My atatistioal report will show that only 23 of tbe tribe dress wholly in citizeua' clothes and 31 in part. The' Iudiane cannot make any de-deaided edvanoement as Ion as they nse one handto hold theirblanket around them while they are trying to wori with the other. As a alms they are indolent and poor, and do not look out for their fntwe wants. They are very friendly to the whites st the agencr, and are disposed toconsult the wishes of the agent in allmatters pertsin-ing to thdr welfare. They bave under cnltivation 223 acres of land plsnted to oats, wheat, ooorn, and po-tatoes. My farmer who i. now harvesting their crop8 raporis tbat they will have an exoellent yield of oats, wheat, and potatoes, but that the eoon crop whl not mature. The season8 are too short for maturing corn. We estimat,e that thsir wheat crop will round up to 2.300 bushels, oats to 1,710, and potatoes to 900 bushels. Beaides this they have built 4,647 rods of good fenoe during the past <year, inclonin their small farms and Pastnres. The farmer anperintended nearly all their agrioll&tursl works, and in pleelied at the combined results of the efforts of the Indians and himself. In the nlatter of stock raising. the Indians have a decided prefureuce to ponies over cattle. Four or five Indians of the Uintsh tribe own nearly all the Indian cattle on thia reserve. Their inflnence among the tribe8 is mewured by the number of poniea they possess, and ~ E Blo ng this custom obtain8 amon then, they wlll raiseponles in preference to cattle. Pior are their ponies as good as hey might be. They traln the beat for racers snd riaers, and leave the smaller sod poorer ones for stuck horses. The result in that not one in twent,y are 6t for work horses. I am uot able to give a fill1 report of the school. My statistical report abows that the avera e attendance during the eight montba of sohoal of lsat year was 17 pnpils. Perhaps &%is mall number is due to the fact t,hat there is no suitable school building here. I cao6dently hope that a new school building will be erected hare as soon as posaii>le. My teacher reports tbat the pupils who attended school during t h l~ast Year made deoided improvement. He 8398 that while the Indian pupils are not as bright as white ohildreo, they possess B very fair degree of int,elligenoe. The school, herdofore under tbecontrol of the Preebyterian Board, during the pasl year, han been condncted exolnsivdy by the Depart,ment. The ~e h a o le mplogBs eonniated of a teacher, matron, and a oook. Rntiaos have been furoished from the commissery for the Indian papils. The cost of each pupil during the past year has been ,8105.74. Much prejudice exists among t i e older men, and especially among the medicme mm, against the children attending school. Whenever the older men do consent, to allow the children ro attend school they consider tbat thrg have conferred a special fsvor upon the cc ent and the teaoher. The younger men, who are brought more in contact with the w%ites in the settlements in the vicinity of the reservation than the more aonae~vativeo ld men who stay a t home, see the advantage8 which the white people have from their sohoola and coosequently urge thsir children to attend the agency school. I cannot help thinking that the pronpeota fur the school this yew are better than they ever were before. The pclice force at this agency numbers seven in all-one offioer and six privates. They &revery efficient in quieting little quarrels among the Indians. Their presenoe is alwt~yas guarantee of good order. On the evening of the 19th of July the Chioamen oook was asssulbd by two white men who demanded his money, and on refusing was brutally beaten over the head. The Chiuaman wcoeeded in arousing some of the employ68 to comn to his aasiatanoe and %he robbers made off. The Indian poliae were sllmnloned as soon as possible and put upon their trail. They followed the trail of the robber8 about 12 miles by |