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United States. Office of Indian Affairs / Annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the year 1884
([1884])
Report of agent in Colorado, pp. 18-20
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Page 19
REPORT OF AGENT IN COLORADO. 19 POLICE. This branch of the service at this agency may be called a failure; not but what there is good material here for Indian police, but because they have no accommo- dations whatever at the agency. Could suitable quarters be provided, and a full ration be issued, which would insure their presence here at all times, discipline could be established and they would doubtless become efficient and be of great service to the agent. EDUCATION. Out of the 27 children sent to Albuquerque Indian school in May, 1883, 3 of that number have died from sickness. The remaining 24 are making satisfactory progress. I am authorized to build a school-house here, with a view of establishing a day-school. This I consider a premature move, as I am certain it will be next to impossible to secure an attendance. My idea of educating an Indian is to learn him to work anld earn his own living. By doing this he becomes locatedl; you will know where to find him. You could take his children into a day-school then with some certainty of hav- ing a regular attendance. With the present condition of affairs I consider the estab- lishment of a day-school will be a failure. DEPREDATIONS. Under this head there is a question whether these Indians are guilty or not. Dur- ing the month of July there was an attack maae on Indians by cattle-men about 20 miles west of the reservation line, the cattle-men clai ilug the Indians to be Southern Utes and having a large number of their horses. The Utes deny the statement, and say the thieves are renegade Indians, that belong to no agency, of which class of In- dians about 400 live in Utah. However, it would not be surprising if some of the renegades belonging to this agency (of which there are always more or less in any tribe) were engaged in the trouble referred to. SUPPLIES. The suppdies furnished last year were largely deficient for the number of Indians who received rations. I have 991 Indians on this reservation. About 800 receive ra- tions every week; the remaining 200 frequent the agency seldom, except to receive cash annuities or clothing. This visit is made about twice a year. For these 800 In- dians during last year I was furnished 75,000 pounds of flour, 100,000 pounds of beef, 200 pounds of coffee, and 3,500 pounds of sugar, and am expected to keep them on a reser- vation where no game to speak of exists. The fact is simply this: it is inpossible to keep starving Indians on a reservation when they can go into the mountains buta few miles and get plenty of game to subsist on. They will eitherdo that or kill cattle, which graze on the reservation by the thousand, and the Indians receive no benefit for the same. The Indians say that before they sent their children to school and commenced farming they had plenty to eat. I consider the present action on the part of the Government a reward for depredations. Why ? Because as soon as an Indian shows a disposition to become civilized the Government cuts off his rations, and he must either steal or starve. LEASING LAND. Last October these Indians leased a portion of their reservation to Mr. Edward Wheeler, of Fort Lewis, Colo., for grazing purposes, subject to the action of the Department, and were to receive $10,000 per year in advance for the privilege. This amount of money equally divided among the Indians, as it would have been had the lease been approved, would have gone far towards their support. The Department refused to recognize any agreement of this kind, and of course it went by default. At the same time there is, and has been since the establishment of this agency, cattle grazing on the reservation, for which the Indians receive no benefit. AGENCY BUILDINGS. This part of my report has been referred to so often and by so many different in- spectors, &c., I deem it hardly necessary to make mention of the situation. However, I will say that the buildings for the storage of supplies and the accommodation of the agent and his employdis consist of two old log buildings, which are insufficient for accommodation and comfort of agent and employds and unsafe for the protection of supplies. The dwelling-house is overrun with vermin. After repeated efforts I mm
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