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REPORTS CONCERNING INDIANS IN ARIZONA.                    141 
REPORT OF SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT IN CHARGE OF NAVAHO 
AGENCY. 
FORT DEFIANCE, ARIZ., August 19, 1904. 
SIR: I have the honor to submit this my first annual report of the Navaho
Agency 
and school, I having assumed charge of affairs October 1, 1904. 
Agency.-The agency is located at Fort Defiance, Ariz., 30 miles northwest
of 
Gallup, N. -Mex., which is our railroad and telegraphic station and which
is now 
connected with the agency by a telephone line. This agency comprises the
south 
half of the Navaho Reservation, and something like 12,000 Indians belong
to same. 
The Navaho is a superior Indian, an energetic worker, and generally peaceable
and 
quiet, and is making some progress. The reservation is a large area of barren
country 
fit for grazing only, excepting small tracts at various places where the
land can be 
irrigated, Such land is used by the Indians for farming purposes, while they
herd 
their flocks on the waste lands. 
Wherever labor is wanted the Navaho is employed. They secure employment in
the beet fields, at various mines, and on the railroads, and generally are
given the 
preference over other Indians and Mexicans. At the present time a number
of 
Navaho are working on the improvements now being installed at the Zuni Reservation.
I have encouraged the Indians to leave the reservation to find employment,
and they 
are willing to go almost any place to secure work. The railroad company has
paid 
Indians 10 cents per day more than they pay Mexicans. 
The Government has paid the Indians during the year for labor and products
pur- 
chased sums as follows: 
Irregular labor ------------------------------------------ $2, 383.56 
Beef and mutton ---------------------------------------- 5,843.24 
Hay     --------------------------------------------293.90 
Telephone poles, delivered ------------------------------- 1,222.25 
Wood -------------------------------------------------- 1,480.00 
Hauling coal -------------------------------------------- 1,565.85 
Freighting ---------------------------------------------- 3,779.64 
Total --------------------------------------------- 6,568.94 
The greatest source of income the Navaho has is his sheep, goats, and sale
of 
Navaho blankets. In the neighborhood of $500,000 is derived from these industries.
The Navaho blanket has become well known and there is a great demand for
it. 
Improvements. -During the year an adobe cottage and frame barn were erected
for 
the use of the field matron at Chin Lee-the former at a cost of $866 and
the latter 
by agency employees at no expense to the Government. A stone cottage, at
a cost 
of $2,556 was built at the agency. A telephone line, at an expense of $2,275.40,
was 
built between the agency and Gallup, N. Mex. This is a great convenience,
and all 
the labor connected with furnishing the poles and constructing the line was
per- 
formed by Indians, excepting the superintending of the work. The line is
an excel- 
lent one, metallic circuit, poles required to be 20 feet long, 51 inches
in diameter at 
small end, straight and barked, 6 feet of large end tarred and placed in
the ground 
to a depth of 41 feet. 
Ten miles of new road have been made. The roads have been improved in the
vicinity of the agency and Little Water school and three bridges made. The
roads 
have been improved by Indians at other places, they being paid for their
labor in 
wagons, plows, harness, etc. No wagons, plows, or harness have been issued
with- 
out requiring the recipient to perform a reasonable amount of labor for same.
Other 
minor improvements have been made at the agency. The agency sawmill has been
put in working condition and 221,000 feet of lumber have been sawed. Indians
are 
employed at the sawmill, one white man being emploved as engineer and sawyer.
Education.-The Little Water Boarding School, under the efficient supervision
of 
Mrs. Emma De Vore, superintendent, has done excellent work. Her attendance
has been large and could have been larger had the capacity and conveniences
per- 
mitted. During the year an adobe building, containing dining room, kitchen,
and 
rooms for other purposes was completed. By the addition of this building
the 
capacity was increased from 80 to 125. Courtwright shingle roofs were put
on two 
buildings to take the place of dirt roofs; water and sewer connections were
extended 
to the new building; a new barn is in course of construction. A new laundry
building 
was being built, but on June 17 it, with the pump house, was destroyed by
fire. The 
plant looks much better for the improvements. A school building, a warehouse,
a 
water system and improvements in the sewer system are needed. Land for garden
and pasture should be obtained and fenced. This matter and some of the others