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Show 214 REPORT CONOERXING INDIAN8 IN COLORADO. allotted portion of the reservation. There are now in operation two large canals conveying water to Indian lands that lie away from the water courses, in some cases as far as 8 miles. Besides these. are many smaller ditches used to water farms that lie adjacent to the river. All the constrnction work thus far done to furnish water for Indian lands has been on the allotted nortion of the reserve, the long-promised water supply for the unallotted Ute not yet having been commenced. Lands in this section are value-less without water and resemble a desert where water is not obtainable. leasing.-There have been many o-p-portunities to lease lands to good advantage. bnt thr Feqnirerncnts of the Delr:irt&&nt 1ta1.e been almnsr llrohibitivo thus far in tlmt line. but two IP:LSh~cRin g a1.1.01n1.liaIl~dc~l lritlgth e ]bast year. The term of a lense 1:tits bnt thr. c wars. aud it would I,* a fair conr~dnrat~ofonr a s~nnleal lot-mznt of I Z ) at.re.; tr, i,or &lno in a g o d state of cult~vationu. r iu caii of part thercuf. ro l,ulld a substantiill huose uf permanent irrll~rovtmvntw. ithout thapay-m~. nto ~f- ca4h rcnt in mldltir,n. "n tllat at f h ~ ~ e x ~ ~oif rf liln~ letaise~ t~he~ ln~d inu ~~~~ ~ wonld have a develo~edfa rm tdstar t with. This bffice was flooded with a~olica-tions to Iraw last sp;ing. but whet, th.. n;.l,licauta wereiuformod as to xvhai\;onld LPr equirecl of rhrnr t l~ry< lcclinerlt o accept tho term% Denortment.-'rho eeueral I rha~ioorf tlio Tti<llansh as becn exccllcnt. as i~ nlwavs thebase with those& the allotted part of the reserve, no crimes h a v i n ~be en per-pet rat~drr ud tho only tr,,ul,le ar~*.i,ah en- an ,,r.<:a>ioundl rnuk, which cases-are protnptly l~nnclledb y the lrohcr. The . \ l a x l r ~a~re~ st l lb causo of moat of the bad condocr 1.y intrc,dociug wltwky and garub.8n:: with thclu. It i.i a diflicnlt matter to rid of HUCII ntTenJc~ds inro r~llorn~cnwtsc ru [akin by the Imlisur. doca at ion..-Sc,rne p r o~p - tni .~a< rn>~tli+n> t he VILY OL ~d11~:ttiodnn ring the year pa?. n ,gn.nt ott'm.t heing nmdo last f:.ll tu put cl~iltlrenin tho Fort T.cw~ss chool. It 13 rt act to be regrctrt4 thitt Uro rhigircn hnru itever rirrendrd whoul Il+rero-fore. xvlth x fcrv oscaptional c:tses: lrnt wr \\.cresurues*ful i!) securing .'nandl,lr!c-i-- n- c rllnlrl i--n Fort Les.i<. Sornrof thvie ran awavar, I onodied at tliesrl~onl. 011r ~ ~ eEarts will be commenced with renewed vigor" this fall, and we have reason to l,tlieve will lm attentlcrl hy ~rat l fyinxrt snlti.. Tho fo:low~ngr r.p<,rt c i the Pre*lqterisn Yias~ons cI~,ula t Ignaciu is handed r-n o hv Miss Gertrude R. H~lomant.a acller: 'poiat nu,nl,vr of pn: i l r . t~~rnl l cl~l.ol nll rrrm 2:: arornae nttondsncn 1:: ro rcaq. tnlnrnhlg m d 1 ha Engli'lt .xrcul#e i- rho only t??.gunga taurllr ur slrnkall la the %urn. Lenrtll I)! Term. sor..n a t nlhs A small school is conducted by Miss Floretta Shields near the line of the unal-lotted Ute, a t a. di~tsnceof about 6 miles from the Navajo Springs Agency. Unallotted Ute.-When these Iudians were offered their choice toaeceptallotments or not, about two-thirds of the tribe, comprised almost entirely of the Wiminuche bands of Southern Ute, refused to he allotted and were removed to the western half of the reservation with the promise that they would he given a system of irrigation with which to reclaim the desert they were sent to. Five years have passed and the desert is still there as it was. the Indians barely existing, being wholly dependent upon what is issued them for a live!ihood; this is snficient to keep them for about two weeks out of a month. This condition obtains, nat-withstanding the fact that Congress two years ago appropriated $lii0,000 for the purpose of furnishing water for the undlotted Ute. The idea seems to prevail that these are blanket Indians, lazy and shiftless, hnt on the contrary, if given an opportunity they would in time become self-supporting. There are a few springs near the NavajoSprings Agency from which water is obtained for stock and domestic use. During the present dry snmmer these have gone dry, and the Indians have all been compelled to leave the reservation and go up into the mountains in search of water. There art. at present very few Indians on the unallotted portion. I might add that with an irrigating canal on the diminished Ute Reservation the same would be one of the finest bodies of land in the State of Colorado, without which it is a worthless barren waste. Conclusion.-The past fiscal year has seen three different Indian agents in charge of this agency, but fortunately the policies of eacn in the administration of the affairs of the agency were along the same lines. We have been honored by visits from Inspector Tinker and Supervisor Dick?on, which visits resulted in great bbee6t to the general welfare of the Indians. Very respectfully, JOSEP0H.S MITE, Un6ted States Indian Agent. The COMMISSIONsI? OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. |
