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Show 104 REPORTS OE' THE DNPARTYENT OW THE INTERIOR. ditch on the Rincon Reservation, which, it is stated, mill irrigate about 300 acres of good land, about one-half of which has heretofore been under cultivation by means of an old box flume, whieh will be displaced by the construction of this cement ditch. During the fall and winter of 1904 some magazine articles gave the impression that very many Indians in southern California were in a starving condition, and anxious appeals came to the O5ce from various sections of the country that the Indians be given immediate relief. The O5ce was strongly of the opinion that the statements as to destitution among the Indians were exaggerated, and that, while probably a few very old persons were in need of assistance, most of the Indians were able to care for themselves. But when the superin-tendent in charge of the Pala Indians wired for funds for the relief of destitute Indians they were sent to him at once with instructions to do what was necessary to relieve any real suffering. A report as to the condition of these Indians and what has been done for their relief was made by United States Indian Inspector Frank C. Churchill, dated June 5, 1905, from which the following extracts are made : There are some small reservations u in the Sierra Madre Moun-tains, namely, Campo, La Posta, and Ivfanzanita, lyipg along or near the Mexican line, some 50 or 75 miles from the railroad or even a village of any considerable size. Superintendent Shell states that the entire area of tillable land belonging to these three reservations will not exceed 17.5 acres, an estimate which I can indorse as conservative after personal examination of all three of the reservations, and I might add that even this small acreage is made up of dry, sandy land, which is productive only when the rainfall is up to and above the average. Besides, on account of the altitude the crop season is short, and it is true that the Indians are very poor indeed. Cam o is 50 miles by wagon from San Diego, and 9 miles farther on is a Posta, and 7 miles still farther into the mountains is Manzanita. I! I find that it was several months after Mr. Shell assumed his dut before he found time to visit these reservations, and upon doing so tgeir destitute condition alarmed hi?l very much. He was anxious, as he states, to relieve what he considered great suffering, and he immediately returned to San Die o and telegraphed the Indian Office for authority to expend $200 for &eir assistance, an6 this amount was promptly furnished him. Later on he asked for and obtained au-thority to expend $500 for the same purpose. Of this sum he had on hand at the kme of my visit $232.50. At the time he asked for the $200 above mentioned he also wrote to the Sequoyah League, asking that the come to the assistance of these Indians, and this organization respon j ed romptly. As already stated, the Indians have butPittle land, and that oipoor uality, and their po ulation seems to be made up mostly of the ve o7 d and infirm and a !ew children. The actual number of individug upon the three reservations is, in my o inion, very much overesti-mated, and it is probably true that the abi-bodied families have prac-tically forsaken the reservations for the purpose of earning a living |