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United States. Office of Indian Affairs / Annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the year 1874
([1874])
[California], pp. 311-317
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Page 311
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 311 but when the school-house was completed, and it was announced to the chiefs that school would commence, the children could not be induced to enter the house, nor even to approach the place where they had been attending school unawares. The old Indians had evidently frightened them in some way. Since then there has been no attempt made at educating the children, but the effort will probably be renewed next winter. The Indians have always positively refused to do any work, especially the men, until this last year. During the winter the young men were often employed at the agency in handling stores, &c., and they always worked well for pay in some sort of merchandise. Last spring a large number commenced farming; we helped them make their dam and irrigating-ditch, and they got a fine start, the old chiefs and the young men taking hold in earnest. They planted corn, beans, potatoes, and pumpkins, and they all came up nicely, but early frosts damaged the prospects considerably, and about that time came a distracting rumor, pretty well authenticated, that the agency would very soon be moved to Ojo Caliente, and every- thing combined to discourage the Indians from doing any work after June. The result of their efforts at farming is a failure. They have proved that they can work successfully when properly urged to commence and encouraged to continue. No farming has been at- tempted this season by the Government employes, aside from gardening for their own use, because their time has been-entirely occupied in attending to the Indians and keeping up the old buildings of the agency. We have been annoyed but very little on the reservation by the thieving propensities of the Indians, but it is pretty certain that they still steal a good many horses at a dis- tance from home, probably joining the Arizona Apaches in raids into Sonora. They are fond of visiting the Arizona Apaches, and these visits I cannot stop, for want of cavalry near the agency with which to follow, and bring them back for punishment, when they start. I have made repeated efforts to have at least a small detachment of cavalry at Fort Tulerosa, but have failed to secure them. The Apaches have not hitherto given any attention to raising stock, not even horses, the animals in which they take great delight. Their practice has always been to steal a supply of horses, and as soon as they were all traded off or broken down by abuse, to procure a new supply in the same way; but this summer they are raising quite a number of colts, and are keeping a few goats about their rancherias. Stock-raising is encouraged by all means at the agent's command. The agency is now being removed from the Tulerosa reservation to the Ojo Caliente res- ervation, nearly identical with the reservation from which they were removed by Mr. Vincent Colyer in ] 872. The place to which we are now removing is not as well adapted in any respect for an Indian reservation as the place we are leaving, unless the Mexican town of Canada Alamosa is purchased by Government, and the eastern line of the reservation run so as to include the farming district now cultivated by the inhabitants of that town. I would re- spectfully recommend the purchase of this town, as Government already owns the land, and the Ojo Caliente reservation will not be worth much unless it can be extended so as to include this arable land. There has been a good deal of time lost in the work of civilizing these Indians by these changes of location, and it will certainly be good policy now to locate permanently and erect suitable buildings for the greatest efficiency of the agency. I asked the principal chief if be was willing to remove to Ojo Caliente, and he replied " Yes; but give us some place and let us remain there." The accompanying statistics are made entirely with reference to the Tulerosa reservation. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, BEN. M. THOMAS, United States Agent, Southern -Apaches. H-on. En. P. SMITH, Commissioner, Washington, D. C. HOOPA VALLEY INDIAN RESERVATION, CALIFORNIA, August 31, 1874. SIR: In obedience to instructions, I have the honor to submit my annual report for this reservation. The service here labors under some natural disadvantages. The farming-lands are divided into eight tracts, four upon each side of the Trinity River, the extremes being about seven miles apart. A hill in each direction from the agency buildings allows only about one-third the quantity to be hauled at a time that is usual upon ordinary farms, causing much addi- tional labor of teams, wear and breakage of wagons, and aIn increased quantity of supplies, &c. There are about seven hundred acres of plow-land, one-third of which, before it was worn and exhausted, would have been consideired second-rate land, the rest ranking as fourth
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