OCR Text |
Show BUPPLEMENTAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF IN. DlAN AFFAIRS. REPORT OF TOUR OF OBSERVATION AMONG AGENCIES AND SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTHWEST. DEPARTMENT OF TEE INTER~OR. oRF10E OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, Waahiwton, D. C., December 8, 1890. - SIR: In accordance with the authority whioh yon granted me, I left Washington Se~tembe5r for a tour of observat~ona mong the Indian agenciesand schools. I was absent ninety days, and dufing that time . traveled some 8,000 miles, more than,1,000 of which was by ambulance and carriage. I visited the reservations at FortHall, Idaho, and Pyra-mid Laka. Nevada: anent ten davs among the Mission Indians and Pumas of kouthern'Cdifornia, and travelea 600 miles in wrnpany with General &lcOook through the Apache, Navajo, and BIoqui Reserva-tions of Arizona. I alsovisited the Pima an& Pauaeo Reserrations of t l ~ sia me Territory, the Cl ~ e j e n ~a~nde drupah6, Gomanehe, I<iown, l\'iel~ita,P onea, Otoe, Oaago, an11K aw l<esrl~r;lti~~inn Os,k lahoma. I inanecwrl nlostof the tichools.(;o\~~~rutnbe~~,~atr. di~~a.nndda\~schools. wntrrtit and mission schoola on' these reservitions, th; non-reservation Government schools at Genoa, Nebr. ; Grand Junction, Colo.; Carson, Nev.; Albuqerque and Santa FB, N. Mex.; Chilecco, Oklahoma, and Lawrence,Eans.; and the contract schools at Denver,Colo.; San Diego and Banning, Cal. ; Tucson, Ariz.; Albuquerque aud Santa, F6, N. Mex. I seut to the oRice detailed reports on the reservations and schools which have been, from time to time, laid before you for your informa-tion. I desire IIOW to give sirllply some of the general impressions which I have received as a resnlt of this tour of observation. First. Tl~epr esetlt status of the Indian service is more favorable than I had exl~ectedto find it. Theagents and emplopBs generally areappar-ently devoting thenlselres to the work in hand with a si~icerep urpose to promote the welfare of the Indians, and an intelligeut appreciation of the method? best cnlci~lated to acnolnplish the results. I was glad to find so little indication of either moral unfitness or nnfaithfiiluess to duty. The practical tlifficnlties amrem any, often insurmoontable, and the slowness of progress is due largely to circumstauces that no amount of tidelity on the part of agents and emplog6s can overcome. In some instances I felt obliged to peremptorily discharge employ6s, either for immorality or for ~~nfaithful~~beustn I, am slad to be able to bear testimony to the general high character of the service as I saw it. a x v . |