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454 
NEW YORK AGENCY. 
received- annuities in national currency, although coin was expressly prom-
,ised them by the treaty. 
My predecessor, late Agent Leach, said to them, when paying them in 
currency, that the government would doubtless make good to them the defi-
ciency when the war was over ; and now that peace is restored they confi-
dently expect that the premium which seems to be equitably due them will
be paid. They have trusted and served the government, and now ask for 
simple justice at its hands. 
In conclusion, permit me, honored sir, to congratulate you, and through 
you the loyal men and women of the country, upon the success which has 
at last crowned their efforts, so nobly made, to put down the late rebellion,
and which secures to us an undivided country and the best of governments.
Thanks to Almighty God for his signal interposition in our behalf, and all
honor to the brave officers and men of army and navy who achieved for 
us our victories. Let them and their brave comrades in arms who fell in 
the deadly strife be ever held in grateful and everlasting remembrance; 
and be it ours more highly than ever to appreciate the principles of liberty
and good government, and to see to it that they are handed down to those
who shall succeed us unimpaired. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
RICHARD M. SMITH, U. S. Indian Agent. 
Hon. D. N. COOLEY, 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. 
NEW YORK AGENCY. 
No 189. 
OFFICE INDIAN AGENCY FOR THE INDIANS IN NEW YORK, 
Akron, September 30, 1865. 
DEAR SIR: I respectfully submit my annual report of the condition of the
New York Indians. 
Having received my appointment in November, 1864, and entered on the 
duties of the office about the 1st of December following, at which time I
re- 
lieved the former agent, Mr. D. E. Sill, who was at the time very ill, under
the painful malady which he had been suffering for several months prior,
and from home to receive medical attention, and what books and papers rel-
ative to the office I received through the hand of Mr. C. B. Bdecher, his
for- 
mer clerk. 
Having been a resident for the last thirty years adjoining several bands
comprising the Seneca nation of Indians, as well as having the opportunity
of frequently meeting at their annual councils delegations from all the other
tribes of Indians within this agency, except the St. Regis, has afforded
me 
an opportunity of becoming well acquainted with their modes and customs 
and general traits of character, and which I have very closely observed.
The olden time customs are being laid aside in the way of their gaining a
livelihood and in matters pertaining to -their living, and a new state of
things, approximating to a more civilized state, is yearly developing itself.
Allow me here to state that heretofore, or some years back in the distance,
the Indians within this agency derived their subsistence from three promi-
nent sources, one of which was their annuity, which is but a small pittance
,for a subsistence for the year; secondly, from cropping and growing pro-
ducts from the soil in a moderate way, to the extent of the industry that
was