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REPORTS OF AGENTS AND OTHERS IN CHARGE OF INDIANS. 
REPORTS CONCERNING INDIANS IN ARIZONA. 
REPORT'OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT IN CHARGE OF COLORADO 
RIVER AGENCY. 
COLORADO RIVER AGENCY, 
Parker, Ariz., June 1, 1904. 
SIR: I have the honor to submit this my first annual report as superintendent
and 
special disbursing agent of the Colorado River Indian School and Agency for
the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1904. 
When I assumed charge of this agency and boarding school on November 17,
1903, 
I found conditions existing among these Indians that I have never met with
elsewhere 
and of a nature sufficient to check the ardor of the most zealous Indian
worker. 
The following is the census of the Indians of this reservation: 
Males of all ages..   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   ..--------------------------------------272
Females of all ages..   .   .    .  .    .   .   ..------------------------------------236
Total..     ..      .  .    .   .   ..      ..-----------------------------------------508
Over 18 years (males, 154; females, 157).. . ..    ..--------------------311
School children between 6 and 18 (males, 85; females, 63)-------148 
The advancement these Indians have made toward a higher civilization since
I 
nave been here has not been perceptible, though it has been piactically demonstrated
that they are eager to work and increase their individual possessions whenever
the 
opportunity for so doing presents itself. 
A number of second-hand wagons and several sets of harness were sold to them
during the year, they grasping the opportunity of possessing a wagon and
harness 
with avidity, and faithfully performing their part by cutting and delivering
wood or 
performing labor by the day equivalentto the value of the articles received.
A larger quantity of water for irrigating purposes to enable them to increase
the 
acres of land cultivated could not be procured owing to the poor and unserviceable
condition of the old boiler at the pumping plant, it being such that it could
not be 
crowded or its load increased; and, owing to the present weakness of this
plant, to 
increase the acreage under irrigation is impossible, and agricultural pursuits
are at a 
standstill and must soon retrograde unless immediate steps are taken to overcome
the 
difficulty by installing a new boiler at the irrigating plant. 
In previous years a vast quantity of the subsistence of these Indians has
been raised 
on the overflow lands that adjoin the river. However, owing to the low stage
of the 
river this year, no overflow occurred, and no vegetables of any character
can 'be 
produced or raised on these lands, and the question confronting them regarding
the 
absence of their customary fall produce and the wherewith t4 procure a substitute
for same is indeed of serious moment and much concern. 
The literary and schoolroom work during the past year has equaled that of
former 
years, notwithstanding a portion of the time we were without a regular teacher
for 
the advanced and higher-grade pupils and the staff of teachers was changed
four 
times. 
Work in the industrial departments, with one possible exception, has been
well 
looked after, and judging from results obtained, has surpassed that of any
previous 
year. 
Thanking your Office for the many.manifestations of kindness toward me during
the year just closed, I remain, 
Verv respectfully, 
ENOS B. ATKINSON, 
Superintendent and Special Disbursing Agent. 
The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 
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