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Show Edzloation.-The Southern Ute Agency school waa maintained doring 5$ month The average attendance was 13. Total number of pnpils, 14. They wen, orderlg-and pescesble and their pmgrms was encouraging, bnt dnring the latter part of the winter appearance* indicated tbat the building ubed.as dormitory, refectory. and qnarters for matron and cook, in connection with the school, was settling, which mrelol observa-tions sod mmurements confirmed. The Ute parents even observed snd called atten-tion to its nnsefe condition. By your authority, altar a thoroogh investigation, dis-closing the fact tbat the structnra hsd become a veritable death trap and liableta cause a catastrophe, thc building was abandoned md demolished. No other h o w being available for the purpose, and it being imporrsible to maintain a day school on m n n t of the distance to he tmvelCd daily by the pupils, no school baa been maintained since March 10 last. The Utes are verv reluctant to send their cbildren off the reservation to school. One' obiection they nrgi against doing ao is the unsettled condition ot the question regarding tb&r rernovsl tosoow rr.rervr,ti"u io l'tnh. Any rugge-tiontbat th& nlluw their cbii. dren to l,ct.tket, roa di-taut schuol is nlet with the clal~u tlhat laith hzx oLt bee" krpt with t~he-m in this matter. 1 havv hewrue curtvinred Illat uotrl l b l ~ou rsllon is Dernla- ~ nentlr. settled it will be avervdif6cultmatterto secure any numberofpopilsfor khoois for \ im. rlruukenuw app-n to be on the dwrerie. it bein:: now bf uncu~oluon thouyh of oc-wioual ocearrenee. I have yet to sea the lirrt intoxicated Indian nt rllis agency. The Iww. howaver. ia ooduubtedlv r;iul-~te~iloro!neen tent io tlie sale ~1 i!ltohicittlnv lionurn A (ha Utss. ' They are subjected to considerable annoyance by the loss of their horses, whieh they claim are stolen by white men. This is their principsl source of complaint. In same instances I fear tQe charges are jost. Proof and captore, however, are matters of great difficulty owing to the narmwoess of the resarvstiou and the character of the sormnnd-i. n"n- "." n"".n."+.r,u. The ouly reported mpe of violenre msnltit~gf atnliy arr.uned in the early part of N h semler, opsr the weatern i,ooorlary 01' the rracrvatloo, arisiogoot of the rlealinx of a Navsio hlnnkrt bv one Ute from ruother. in whirh tlrree IJtea last their livrs: nu white man bcinf enpag;d in.the mutur. TI~..mu~l~0x1c'tt hu Ilrea has hn'n very sti is factory whcn it is ro~sirlrredt bat hot a iew ymm i,gu they, cdpcriallp the Wseo~inurl~ctw~esr,e a totally wtld, barharooa tribe. KO wqve ot viole~lce hatween Indian* and rhi:er are known to hovcc>ccurred during tba past year in which the Utes were the aggressors. No charges have been brought to me by any white man against aqv Ute during the year. No courtof Indian offenaes has been established st this sgency, it being thought nn- ' necessary sod under the eircumxtanees more liable to eneonrsge hicke~iugth an to allay it. The chiefs are men highly respected by the several bands and they have so far co-operated with the agent io a very siltisfactory mannerto settle minor dikeranam. I am unable to learn that any special msrrjaxe ceremony is considered necemry to estahliah the relation of husband sod wife. It is eustomarv. howecer. forthe emomta mmpensate the relatives of the bride by means of moue< 'horses, sheep, blaiketa, or other articles of value. No astablished price obtains, and it is unnecessary to compen-sate the guardians of orphsn girls. The dis~olutiou of the msrriage bond appeam ta devend uvon the desire of one or both the oarties. hut such dissolution is of inlreonent oc~orren&. A few rnses of alleaed polye& hive been re-ported to me, but in ;very cme ir nlet with n rtoot denisl. i'r&l is aait~ng. 'Phe repuratron 01' the llte women lor looralits ranks wltb the best 01' lhat 01 ilwy trihe with whirh 1 have scqaaiotance. Thr herlth of the trthe hap heen lnirlv COUJ. NO fami enidenneor inlectbo~di sesses have prevailed. Thestatistics show, bi&& 37, deaths 18, being an increase of 19 during the gear. The benefits of ratiollal treatmentof disease are becoming appreciated, the physician is more otten called upon to prescribe, and the prestige of the Indian "medi-cine man " isslowlv wsoinr. An increased de&d for 'ihe clothing of the white man is observed. They are grad-nally, though alowly, discarding their blanketa as an article of Mstnme, snd wearing their clothing without the mutilation of separating the legs of the pantaloons. The tribal instinct of the masse. of the Soothern Utes is still strong, and they arenot no far advanced-in eiviliaatioo ss ta view favorably the l~llotmenot f their lsods io mv-eralty. They are, and have been for the last two years, in an unsettled eandition of mind in consequence of the proposal to movethem to a newreservation. Inmnsequenoe, of these facb no sttempts at allotmente hsve been made, hut about forty Indian. and families a.e Living on separate tracts of oaltiwted land, withoot regard to legal sobdi-nsions. |
