Grand Ronde Agency
    Jany. 1st 1857

Very truly
    Your obdt. servt.
        A. G. Henry

Monthly Report of Grand Ronde Hospital
For the Month of January 1857

Character of Disease	Remaining on Hand	Received into Hospital	Discharged Cured	Remaining in Hospital	Total Prescriptions for Outside Patients	Total Number Outside Patients	Total Deaths in Hospital	Total Deaths in Camp
Consumption	1				2	1	7	2
Acute Pneumonia	1	4	4	1	43	18		5
Chronic Pneumonia		1		1	30	14		1
Dysentery or Flux					34	27		2
Chronic Hepatitis					11	11
Diseased Joints	1	1	1	1	12	4
Rheumatism	1	2	2	1	47	21
Acute Bronchitis		1	1		51	22		1
Chronic Bronchitis					21	9
Sore Eyes					82	47
Catarrh or Cold					127	96
Intermittent Fever	1	1	2		13	13
Typhoid Fever		3	3		45	21		6
Typhus Fever		2	2		7	3		4
Burns					5	3
Old Ulcers		2	2		19	11
Syphilis	2	2	4		28	15		1
Gonorrhea		1	1		66	65
Scrofula					11	5
Abscess	1	1	1	1	2	1
Diarrhea					23	23
Secondary Syphilis		1		1
Wounds
Totals	8	23	23	7	685	434	1	23

Remarks

Office Supt. Ind. Affairs
    Oregon City Jany. 2nd 1857

Sir
    In reply to yours of 20th December referring to supplying the Indians east of the Cascade Mountains with beef, I have to say that I will receive a proposition from you (if made immediately) to furnish beef for those Indians, if you are willing to furnish it on the credit of the government. I have no money to pay for beef with, and cannot agree to pay at any definite time.
John T. Jeffreys Esq.
    Dayton O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 293.



Sir
    I have the honor to forward herewith certain claims for property destroyed by Indians within this Superintendency as follows, to wit:

	John T. Hill, by Coquille Indians	Nov. 24th 1855	$  252.47
	John Creighton by Coquille Indians	October 1855	1194.00
	Isaac K. Davis by Cow Creek Indians	October 1855	2923.90
	Mary H. Harris by Rogue River & Cow Creeks	October 9th 1855	3862.00
	A. B. Colver by Coquille Indians	December 1855	498.75
	Joseph Rocquebrune on Rogue River	October 1855	501.50
	Amounting in aggregate to		$9232.62

    These depredations appear to have been committed at the commencement of and during our late Indian war.
    The treaty with the Coquille Indians (included among the coast tribes treated with 11th August 1855) has not been ratified. I think, however, that in a majority of cases the particular tribe or band engaged in these acts of plunder are only conjectured, and in view of this opinion and particularly of the uneasiness of the annuities of the Rogue River and Cow Creek tribes, I think a direct appropriation by Congress, based upon a report of commissioners who might be designated to examine into the matter, would be much more just than to retain these amounts from the annuities of the Indians, already too small. There is also on file in this office a claim of Daniel K. Baxter for property destroyed by the Rogue River Indians in Jackson County in October 1855, amounting to $11,530.00, which the claimant requests me to retain until he collects additional evidence.
    In this connection I will also state that there are some claims of a different nature on file in the office which I would like instructions about, viz: Two claims, one of $258.27 for subsistence furnished to Indians at Port Orford in March, April, May and June last; the claim appears to be a just one, but as it dates under late Supt. Palmer's time of action, I am unwilling to pay it without some special authority. The other claim is for $300, for carrying an express in March last with a schooner from Port Orford to Crescent City, at request of a special Indian agent Jerry Maguire, who certifies to the fact. This account is in the same situation as the other. It may also be proper for me to state in this communication that by report from agents Metcalfe and Miller I find that the following number of the Indians (men) under their charge were engaged in the late war, viz:

	267	of coast tribes
	103	of Rogue Rivers
	5	"  Shasta Scoton & Umpquas
	12	"  Cow Creeks
	4	"  Umpquas & Calapooias
	391	men in all

    The families of these men sum up as follows, to wit: 566 women, 217 boys, 217 girls besides infants; making all 1391 souls, exclusive of infants.
Hon. Geo. W. Manypenny
    Comr. Ind. Affairs
        Oregon City O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 293-294.  Joseph Rocquebrune is apparently not the same person as Joseph Rockburn. See letter dated September 5, 1872.



Joel Palmer, Esq.
    Late Supt. Ind. Affairs
        Dayton, O.T.
            Dear Sir,
                On the 30th ultimo I received a long communication from you bearing date 8th August 1856. It appears that it had been enclosed to the Office of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior and by Commissioner Manypenny transmitted, under date 23 October last--seventeen days after my departure from the Atlantic States for Oregon--to our Delegate Gen. Lane and by his kindness forwarded here to my address. As I was in Washington until near the close of September, it is somewhat remarkable that your letter did not reach me.
    Your communication is intended to be a reply to a note I addressed you on the 23rd of June last, on the eve of my departure for Washington. You say "that letter is not now before me, and I cannot recollect its precise language." It is to be regretted that it was not before you, as your "impression" and "memory" have served you incorrectly.
    Your communication in part is open to consideration, as however you say that it is not intended for an official communication, yet you have affixed your official signature to it and addressed it to me officially, "or to be heralded to the world to be criticized and perverted." Notwithstanding it has doubtless been made public property by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, I hesitate to answer as I would desire, else I might show you the injustice you have done to a large body of your fellow citizens and myself when you charge upon them and me as being "Indian exterminators," and also take occasion to make appropriate rejoinders to other issues you have raised and in which you are as sadly mistaken.
    I have never asked or invited individual approval of the policy which an imminent crisis compelled me to pursue; that matter has met its legitimate consideration and judgment. Whether it was right or wrong is immaterial now, except to myself personally. I did not, however, anticipate that it would have occasioned the aspersions and insulting ridicule of my fellow citizens and false testimony as to the occurrence and events of the war from army officers and their attaches, here and in California, as well as some two or three of our own citizens who from their attachment to the female portion of the Indian race chose to take sides with the enemy.
    You have evidently misconceived the object of my note of the 23rd June last. It was not for the purpose of drawing you out in a lengthy communication which would require as extended a reply from me. For long years we had been friends. I believed you to be as true and faithful as the sun. Some of your official communications had placed you in an equivocal position with your fellow citizens, who conceived that you had unwarrantably assailed their reputation. From personal intercourse with you I was led to infer that the language of those official communications had been misconstrued and that your feelings were mingled with regret on that account. My note would give you an opportunity to say as much, and to make public what you said, that your fellow citizens might understand you. Be pleased to do me the justice to believe that I had no personal motive in addressing you other than what my note expressed in its brief terms.
    Since writing the above I have noticed an endorsement in pencil upon the back of your communication, which goes to show that a copy of it was taken for the Office of Indian Affairs. I say suppose. I now have to request that I also may consider it as an official affair.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 155-157.



Dear Sir
    We have been entertained during our Christmas holidays with another free fight amongst the Indians, which lasted two days and a half. There were five men killed and twelve wounded, two of them mortally. The cause of the fight is the result of superstition. Tyee George has been sick for some time past, and being told that one of Joshua's doctors had made him sick he sent his men down to kill the doctor, but Joshua was unwilling to give him up, when the fight commenced, the Klamath band taking side with George, the Tututnis, Mikonotunnes and Shasta Costas siding with Joshua.
    I would respectfully ask to be informed if I shall order out the military to suppress these difficulties between the Indians. I have not done so for fear of getting some of the soldiers killed, which would probably result in a combination of all the Indians against the whites. When I protested against their killing the doctor they charged me with protecting a murderer and said that he would kill all of them if he were suffered to live.
    The schooner has not yet arrived but we still have enough to eat (potatoes & wheat).
    My returns for the 4th qr. will soon be completed.
    In examining my account current for the 1st qr. 1858 I find Mr. Hand has failed to bring forward a balance of $1620.00 in favor of the United States due 31st Decr. 1857 as will be seen from the acct. current for that qr. under the heading "Pay of 2 smiths &c. &c." and that he has brought forward from the same qr. for pay of interpreter five hundred dollars in favor of the U.S., when it should have been only $291.67.
    You will please have Mr. Brooks examine the acct. currents for the 4 qr. / 57 and the 1st qr. 1858, and if the same error occurs there I will credit the United States with the amount as per error on acct. current 1st qr. 1858.
To
    Col. J. W. Nesmith
        Supt. Ind. Affrs.
            Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 15.



Sir
    My indefatigable messenger, James Brown, has just returned from the agency of Agent R. B. Metcalfe, Coast Station, Coast Reservation.
    Mr. Brown has had a very unpleasant trip, toiling through snow and mud and swimming his mule across the swollen streams between Grand Ronde and Coast agencies. He reports the snow falling rapidly when he left Coast Station, and on arrival at Grand Ronde he found twelve inches of snow and many of the Indian horses dying from starvation. He informs me that there is but one week's supply of flour and beef at the Grand Ronde.
    Mr. James Strang, the beef contractor, declines furnishing any more beef upon his contract bearing date 29th September last, as I had no funds on hand at the close of the last month to pay for the beef furnished, according to contract; he stating that he had taken the contract at a very low rate, expecting his money at the end of each month, as per contract--that if he had received his pay accordingly he would have been able to fulfill his part of the contract, but that it is utterly impossible for him to buy beef upon credit and furnish the Department at the low rate contracted for, in a country where money cannot be borrowed at a less rate of interest than two percent per month.
    I regard Mr. Strang as an honest, upright man, who is not disposed to do injustice to the government or to an individual. The throwing up of his contract was nothing more than could be expected under the circumstances, and is what may be expected of everyone with whom I have made contracts unless I shall receive funds by the next mail in answer to my estimate of 10th October.
    Now, my dear sir, what am I to do. Shall I have the odium of allowing these poor Indians to starve and thereby force them to commit robberies and murders to obtain the means of sustaining life? God forbid! I will run the risk of incurring your displeasure by using the funds sent me for other purposes to feed these people so long as there is a dollar of it left. I regret that I should be compelled to disregard your instructions in any particular, but this is a case that will admit of no delay. I am well satisfied also that Commissioner Geo. W. Manypenny, so long conversant with Indian affairs, cognizant of their wrongs and sympathizing with them in their sufferings, does not require that in the midst of an inclement winter, with a heavy snow upon the ground, I shall suffer these Indians to starve or oblige them to commit robberies and murders, when I may, by disregarding instructions even, prevent it.
    I enclose some extracts from Agent Metcalfe's letters, brought by Mr. Brown, showing the situation of things at the Coast Reservation. [See extracts of Dec. 29, 1856.] The cargo of the schooner Calumet was received by Agent Metcalfe and all but one thousand pounds (of flour) carried away by the storm referred to in the extracts from his letters forwarded to you in my communication of 19th December. [See extracts of Dec. 12, 1856.] A large proportion of the flour came ashore again, I am informed, and was picked up by the Indians.
    Agent Metcalfe is consequently issuing beef only to the Indians in that vicinity.
Hon. Geo. W. Manypenny
    Comr. Ind. Affairs
        Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 240-244.



Sir
    I have the honor to transmit herewith abstract "A" of disbursements for current expenses and abstract "B" of disbursements for fulfilling treaties with Indians upon Grand Ronde Reservation for the fourth quarter 1856. These two abstracts include all my disbursements for the fourth quarter. Voucher No. 4, abstract "B," will be forwarded by next mail.
    My account current will be made up for this mail, if possible; if not will go by the next.
    I have paid to Gen. Palmer five hundred dollars, to be used in making roads from Willamette Valley to Siletz Valley for the benefit of his work on Coast Reservation, contracted for 20th September last, for which amount I have as yet received no proper vouchers.
Hon. Geo. W. Manypenny
     Comr. Ind. Affairs
        Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 254-255.




A. F. Hedges Esqr.
    Sup. Ind. Affairs
        Dear Sir
            We shall need the most or all of the following articles within the next two or three weeks, and some of them we need now. Please forward them at your earliest convenience and oblige.
    If it is thought advisable to continue the distribution of sugar, tea, rice, soap &c. as explained in my report, we shall need the following articles for the present quarter, as will be seen by referring to my estimates.
    I should prefer having everything (except flour & meat) furnished through your office, or by the merchant, and I will take special care not to exceed the estimates, unless some very extraordinary contingency should arise to justify an excess of expenditure.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 21.



Dear sir
    I desire to call your attention to the provisions of "an act (of Congress) to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes and to preserve peace on the frontiers," approved June 30th 1834, which I suppose is in your office, and to suggest to you that I expect an enforcement of that act upon the reservation under your charge, particularly as to the introduction of spirituous liquor and the presence of improper persons upon the reservation. A certain class of persons bent only upon the gratification of beastly passions and appetites are disposed to make Indian reservations a resort, where with Indian women and whiskey and unrestrained by the presence of civilized society they hope to revel in unrestrained debauchery. I therefore direct that you enforce the law in regard to the introduction of liquor strictly, and that you order every man to leave the reservation who is not in government employ, and establish a system of "passes" by which, with the aid of the military, no man can gain admission to the reservation except by permission of the military or Indian Department. In regard to the case of Mr. Coburn, I would be pleased to have more explicit information in regard to his deficiencies before removing. him.
John F. Miller
    Indian Agent
        Grand Ronde Reservation
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 298.



Sir
    Your communications of 24th, 29th and 31st December were received by hand of Mr. Brown. I do not find the issue of provisions to employees authorized by the regulations of the Indian Department and if expedient to discontinue it upon your reservation, shall expect you to do so. The government expects to pay every employee a certain established salary for his labor without contingencies attached except such as are specially provided for. You have nothing to do with paying the board of the blacksmith or with paying any employee of this office, unless specially instructed to do so.
    You being the recognized agent of the United States in her dealings with the Indians under your charge, it is expected that you are the competent judge of their necessities--if they are naked, suffering and you have clothing with which to alleviate that suffering, you are certainly best able to judge of your duty in the case. Humanity is a strong governing principle in the dealings of the United States government with her Indian children, and you should suffer the same principle to have a due influence upon your treatment of those under your immediate charge. If they are suffering, and you have the means to alleviate that suffering, your duty certainly appears plain.
    Also in reference to calling upon the military to disarm the Indians; if necessary, do it, of course.
    If you find it necessary to hire a clerk to assist you in making up your accounts, I am willing to give my approval to a reasonable expenditure for the purpose and I think the Commissioner would allow it, if the necessity for it was properly explained by you. General Palmer informed me some time since that he should turn those cattle over to you, if I approved of it, which I did. I learn this moment, General Palmer being here, that the cattle belong in charge of Sub-Agent Raymond. Probably Mr. Raymond will turn them over to you.
R. B. Metcalfe Esq.
    Indian Agent
        Coast Reservation
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 299.



Sir,
    Our agents at San Francisco advise me that Mr. Hedges has referred to you a bill for transportation of 75 Indians between points in Oregon. Mr. Tichenor engaged such transportation & approved the bill, as per copy enclosed. He was regarded and treated as an agent of the govt. by Capt. Dall.
    The enclosed original statement of Capt. Dall gives the facts in the case. I deem it unnecessary to add to that except to say that it has frequently occurred before that small companies of troops have gone forward on precisely the same terms as passengers by our steamers, that in making contracts for large numbers a gross amount has been fixed for the service.
    This transaction of Mr. Tichenor was distinct from all previous transactions or contracts.
    I have therefore to request that you will order this approved bill paid. I have instructed our agents & officers to give every facility to the agents of the government in meeting the Indian troubles in Oregon & in this transaction I cannot perceive that such instructions have been disregarded. The Indians went as ordinary passengers & were charged as such.
Hon. G. W. Manypenny
    Comr. of Indian Affairs
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 187-189.  Copy on NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 911-993.  Cover letter, Tichenor's endorsement and duplicate invoice not transcribed.



A. F. Hedges Esqr.
    Supt. Ind. Affairs
        Oregon City
            Dr. Sir
                Per last mail I recd. a letter from my brother Joseph Davidson in Jackson County, who request I inform you that there are about 37 Indians (10 or 12 men) in the neighborhood in which he is living, and he has had frequent interviews with them & says they are willing to come down to the reserve, and he says if you will authorize him he will conduct the Indians to Grand Ronde. If you see proper to do so, please send me word (with authority to him to bring in the Indians if you decide to do so) at the earliest time convenient, and I will forward to him. He says further that the whites there threaten to take their lives if not removed.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 23.



Sir
    Your communication of Dec. 20th enclosing your statement of facts in relation to your accounts as Indian agent came duly to hand and the statement was mailed to Office Indian Affairs with my communication of 7th inst., but as our mail failed to connect with the steamer it did not go out. I am not authorized to pay anything upon the $400 supposed to be allowed you, no mention being made of this branch of the subject in the communication of the Commissioner.
A. A. Skinner Esq.
    late Indian Agent
        Astoria O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 300.



Sir
    In reply to yours of 15th inst. I have to say that much as I deplore the situation of the Indians referred to, and though I would gladly do anything in my power to place them in safety upon the reservation, I cannot authorize it this winter. The heavy expense attending such removals, the entire want of funds in my hands, with other reasons which it is unnecessary here to mention, renders it necessary for me to defer all such operations until the summer season.
Green C. Davidson Esq.
    Dayton O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 300.



Sir
    I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, enclosing a letter to Wm. L. Dall, captain of the steamship Columbia, relative to an account for transporting seventy-five Indians with a conductor or special agent, Mr. Tichenor, from Port Orford to Portland, Oregon.
    A letter from Superintendent Hedges on this subject, dated the 19th Novr., has been received here, the statements of which are very similar to those of Capt. Dall, unless I except a single paragraph, as follows: "Capt. Dall bases his charge upon the ground that there was no contract, and consequently he has a right to charge what he pleases, and that he charges them as steerage passengers, although they laid upon the deck, in the rain, unsheltered except by some old tarpaulin."
    It appears to me that the Superintendent has been sufficiently liberal in his offer, and as the funds out of which at present the claim could be settled have been remitted to him, it seems most proper to refer the entire matter back for his disposal.
    I have accordingly taken copies of the enclosures of your letter, to be forwarded to him, and return the originals to you herewith.
W. H. Davidge Esqr.
    Prest., Pacific
        Mail Steamship Company
            New York City
                N.Y.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1001-1002.  See correspondence of January 15, above.




Sir
    In reply to your communication of 26th November enclosing copies of printed schedule of prices of Indian goods, under contracts for 1857, and suggesting that it is for the interest of the Indian Department that I should order from your office such of the articles as are needed for this Superintendency, I have the honor to enclose such an order and to urge upon you the fact that our Indians are in great need and that the articles should be forwarded at once and by express.
    I would also suggest that a similar invoice be shipped around Cape Horn per clipper ship so as to arrive here for distribution as the necessities of the Indians may require during the winter of 1857-8, and also that the flouring mills, burrs, cut nails, round and bar iron, steel and sawmill irons called for by late Supt. Palmer under date of 8th March last be sent at the same time. I have called for shoes, hats and soap, articles which are not found upon the schedules forwarded from your office, and would request that if not convenient to purchase them, the funds for the purpose, as well as for the purchase of other small articles which it may be desirable to give the Indians, be remitted to this office.
    I would also call attention to the fact that remittances to this office will be necessary for the purchase of farming implements and stock for the Indians located upon reservations.
Hon.
    Geo. W. Manypenny
        Comr. Ind. Affairs
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 247-249.  Itemized schedule of articles not transcribed.




Sir
    I have the honor to transmit herewith the accounts of A. G. Henry, resident physician Grand Ronde Reservation, in the administration of the hospital affairs under his charge to December 31st 1856, together with his letter of explanation and remark upon matters connected with the health of the Indians, present and prospective. As the laws and regulations of the Indian Department do not contain any directions for the proper conducting of hospitals, for the condition of the accounts of physicians, or anything connected with their duties, and I found no forms or papers or instructions on file in this office to guide me in the matter, finding no physicians on duty and compelled to appoint immediately after taking charge of this office and to furnish the appointees the medicines and other materials to operate with, I hope that any deficiencies in the manner of making up their accounts will be pardoned. The hospital under the charge of Dr. Henry is by far the most expensive one in the Superintendency, and knowing the doctor to be a high-minded, honorable man, I am well satisfied that he has conducted matters as was best for the interests of the government and of the Indians.
    I should be pleased to receive some definite instructions as to the manner in which these accounts should be kept.
Hon.
    Geo. W. Manypenny
        Comr. Ind. Affairs
            Washington City D.C.
   
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 267-288.




Sir:
    I have the honor to acknowledge the reference by your chief clerk to this office of a copy of the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th instant, requesting the President to furnish to the House "all the correspondence and documents not incompatible with the public interest relating to Indian affairs in the Department of the Pacific--those of the Interior, as well as those of the War Department."
    If by the "Department of the Pacific" it is intended to include the superintendencies of California, Oregon and Washington and that copies of all the papers relative to Indian affairs therein are to be furnished, then I must express my belief, from the magnitude of the work, that it would be impracticable to answer the resolution this session of Congress, even though the whole clerical force of this office were constantly engaged upon it. I presume the mover of the resolution had some object in view which might be attained more speedily and as effectually by the correspondence directly relating to it, as by "all the correspondence and documents" pertaining to Indian affairs in the Pacific Department, and I would respectfully suggest that the resolution might be so modified as to specify the subject or matter concerning which the papers or correspondence is desired.
    With these remarks I return the resolution and await your direction.
Hon. R. McClelland
    Secy. of the Interior
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 354-355.




To the Hon.
    The Commissioner of
        Indian Affairs
Sir,
    Will you please to inform me whether there is any evidence on file in the Indian office that makes the United States title doubtful, or questionable, to the lands on which stands the Indian Superintendent's House on the bank of the river opposite to the town of Milwaukie in Oregon.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frame 190.




To A. F. Hedges
    Superintendent of Indian Affairs
        Office of Superintendent of Indian Affairs
            Oregon City
                O.T.
Sir
    We the undersigned residents at and near the mouth of Rogue River O.T. would respectfully ask your attention to the following facts--
    That since the declaration of peace in Southern Oregon the route from this point to Crescent City cannot be passed in safety in consequence of numbers of Indians being suffered to remain in the vicinity of "Whaleshead" and "Chetco" that to this time have not been subdued or removed.
    In the month of October last Capt. Wm. E. Tichenor (being duly authorized by you) came to this place and took some fifty men, women & children which we had by our efforts through threats and negotiation collected together with the most positive assurance on his part that he would return with a sufficient military force to compel the Indians at Whaleshead & Chetco to come in and go to the reservation.
    He did return it is true but with so meager a force that with the particulars of his failure you are probably made aware of through his report to you.
    We have since that time been anxiously expecting that some steps would be taken by which safety would be secured to parties wishing to go to Crescent City. Were it not for the dangers of the route our principal business would be transacted with that city as before the war.
    We do not come before you as supplicants but demand as a right to ask you to adopt and execute such measures as will ensure peace and security to us for the future and throw around us the shield our country cheerfully guarantees to all "American citizens."
    We therefore all upon your official capacity as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for this Territory to relieve us from an unpleasant situation, believing those principles of promptness, energy, efficiency and humanity etc. claimed for you will be acted upon and our unpleasant condition relieved. Awaiting your reply, we remain
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 42.



Hon. G. W. Manypenny
    Dr. Sir,
        Gen. Palmer, late Supt. of Ind. Affairs for Oregon, who will hand you this, visits Washington to adjust his accounts with your Department and to pay his respects to you personally. I am glad that he is going. His presence with you will enable much to be successfully explained pertaining to his official acts & the acts of others touching our Indian relations in Oregon, which it is not possible for you to as well know as through him in personal interview & I am satisfied he can make a satisfactory personal vindication of himself and have you fully impressed with the belief that he is what I solemnly believe him to be, an honest man and an able, faithful public servant. I served many years in that Territory in a judicial capacity; my opportunities to know him both publicly and privately were ample to enable me to correctly estimate his character as a man and his capacity of public usefulness, and I am proud to bear testimony in any place and in all time that I regard him as a valuable man in any country and better fitted by his peculiar qualifications and experience in managing Indians for the position of Superintendent than any man in Oregon.
    If he will again consent to take the office, and it is agreeable to the President to place him there, I am confident I am only performing a public service in earnestly recommending him to your consideration. As a Democrat I unhesitatingly bear my humble testimony in his favor, and should be more than pleased that the incoming administration could secure in all its high places of public trust men as true to principle & to duty as Gen. Palmer.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1201-1203.



A. F. Hedges Esqr.
    Sup. Ind. Affairs
        Sir
            I received your letter of January 19th this morning, and my attention has been directed particularly to the following paragraph.
    "Your accounts for the fourth quarter 1856 are received and I must say that there are some things that do not meet with my approval. I have now only time to note that the issue of chickens to Indians is entirely inadmissible, as also the issue of sugar, coffee, tea &c., except in cases where the sugar, coffee or tea may in your judgment be necessary as a medicine or means of cure."
    I am not aware of having issued anything from hospital, except such medicines and hospital stores, "as in my judgment were necessary as a medicine or means of cure," in case of sickness. I have carefully examined my reports, together with my explanatory letters, and I find nothing to justify the censure expressed in the foregoing paragraph. I conclude therefore that you are laboring under a misapprehension of the true state of facts in connection with the expenditures of the articles enumerated.
    I shall therefore defer for the present my defense of my course, feeling very sure that when the proper time arises I shall be able to vindicate my official action to your satisfaction, and that of the Department at Washington.
P.S. I send you enclosed my report for January 1857.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 41.



Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of 11th and 18th December respectively. I am gratified to learn that you intend to protect my drafts from dishonor, and I confidently hope that a special appropriation of funds has been made by this Congress and also that the treaties with the coast tribes and with the Wascos & Deschutes have been ratified, that thereby the officers of the Indian Department in this Territory may be enabled to do a good work during the present year for the government and for the Indians committed to their charge.
    My funds being exhausted, as anticipated the beef and flour contractors have refused to furnish on their contracts after 31st December, and I have contracted anew, upon the credit of the government, at reasonable prices, for such quantities of beef and flour as are necessary and shall continue to feed the Indians as heretofore until I receive peremptory orders from your office to the contrary.
    I have so constantly urged upon your attention the fact that to desist from feeding these Indians is tantamount to a declaration of war with them, that I deem it unnecessary to say anything more in extenuation of the course I have adopted in this matter. Our Indians are as well satisfied as can be expected. The failure to furnish their annuity goods produces, of course, a general feeling of dissatisfaction among them, and the uncertainty which hangs over the fate of the treaties with the coast tribes and with the Wascos & Deschutes causes considerable discontent among the large number of Indians included in those treaties.
    Having left their own lands and placed themselves under the guidance and protection of the agents of the government, they rightfully expect that the government will comply with the agreements made with them, and when almost two years have passed and so little is done towards complying with those agreements, they cannot be blamed for expressing dissatisfaction, and unless this office receives authority to warrant action in compliance with those treaties, in the opening of farms, erection of buildings and otherwise providing for the comfort of those Indians upon the reservations set apart for them, prior to the opening of spring, say by first of April, I fear that an outbreak will occur, and our hold upon the faith of these Indians be sacrificed irrevocably.
Hon.
    Geo. W. Manypenny
        Comr. Ind. Affairs
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 296-298.




Dear sir
    I transmit herewith a letter received from James D. Burnett of Round Prairie, Douglas County, O.T., enclosing a petition from sundry citizens for the removal of certain Indians therein referred to. I also transmit a letter received from William K. Ish of Jacksonville O.T. referring to Indian difficulties in his neighborhood.
    If the condition of Indian affairs upon the Grand Ronde Reservation is such as to admit of your being absent for a sufficient time, you are hereby authorized and directed to proceed to Jacksonville, and, if possible, to collect and protect the Indians referred to in the letter of Mr. Ish, or any other Indians whom you may find scattered along your route of travel, and bring them to the reservation.
    You will endeavor to contribute to the relief of the citizens petitioning from Round Prairie, if you find it practicable to do so. You will take with you such Indians from the reservation as you may deem necessary to aid you in collecting the Indians referred to, being careful to choose, if possible, such as will keep sober and are reliable. I will leave it to your judgment to decide as to the time when and the manner in which you will remove the Indians to the reservation, simply impressing upon you that every dollar of expense must be avoided which is not indispensable to the performance of the duty entrusted to you. Your acquaintance with the citizens of Jackson County will enable you to judge with whom you can with safety advise, and whether an immediate removal of the Indians from that locality is necessary. Their removal during the prevalence of such weather and roads as we now have would be attended by an enormous expense, which it is desirable to avoid, if possible.
John F. Miller Esq.
    Indian Agent
        Grand Ronde Reservation
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 308-309.



A. F. Hedges
    Sir, Some time in Dec. '53 Mr. Culver Indian agent for the Rogue River Indians purchased beef of me to the amount of $125.00 for the use of said Indians, the same he says was entered in quarterly returns in the spring of '54. The account is just, but through some neglect of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs I have not received the pay for the same. You will confer a favor by advising me in regard to the above account as the general government is much more able to pay me I am to lose the same. I think that it has been through some neglect of Gen. Palmer that it was not paid long ago.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 52.



Sir
    In passing through the Umpqua a few days since on my way to this place I was solicited by residents there to call your attention the fact that hostile Indians are yet prowling about in that section of country destroying property and jeopardizing the lives of its citizens. The late attempt by the Indians to take the lives of Messrs. Richards and Day has greatly alarmed the people of that region of country, and in some instances they have betaken themselves to the forts or other places of security occupied by them during the late war. This is the case in the neighborhood of the Mr. Day above alluded to. It is hardly probable that here are more than fifteen or twenty Indians in the immediate vicinity of where the late depredations were committed, but even this small number is capable of doing much harm, and the close proximity of the Klamaths and other hostiles, whose reinforcements can easily be procured, renders the situation of the people of Southern Oregon extremely dangerous, and threatening the accumulations of evils utterly at variance with the general prosperity and well being of the people of the territory at large. In fact, judging from present indications and a tolerable knowledge of Indian character another war south seems inevitable, unless prompt and speedy measures are taken to thwart the designs of the enemy now being matured.
    The unfriendly relations existing between some of your friends and myself, arising from a difference of opinion upon the subject of Indian affairs, deters me from treating of this matter in detail at this time, as you doubtless partake of the sentiments of those friends, controlling as they do the political organization to which you belong. In view of this I respectfully refer you to James Burnett Esq., Roseburg O.T. for further information should you desire it.
To
    A. F. Hedges Esq.
        Supt. Indian Affairs Oregon
            Oregon City O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 47.




A. F. Hedges Esqr.
    Sup. Ind. Affairs.
        Sir
            I desire to relinquish the position I now occupy so soon as I can make arrangements for removing my family from the reservation and settle up my accounts with the agency & department--say the first of April next.
    My reasons for this course will be fully appreciated by you; consequently any allusion to them at this time will be entirely unnecessary.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 55.



A. F. Hedges
    Sir, Enclosed please find a note written by A. G. Henry, resident physician and directed to me, which I think was partially prompted by your instructions to him stated about the 18th of the present month requiring him not only to report to me but continuing to urge upon him the necessity of accounting for every article of medicine & property issued by him which he says amounts to a removal from office and also said that he was satisfied that there was a deep-laid scheme to remove him. But says that no man had the independence to do it in a manly like manner and in the same conversation said that it was just what he wanted was to be removed. I then told him to consider himself suspended, that I would not be trifled with any longer by him. Now, sir, the conduct with other falsehoods which he has written and had published in the Oregon Statesman from time to time and which was calculated if not intended to excite and alarm the citizens not only of this but of Rogue River Valley. And also the declaration that Ki-a-Kuts the high chief had been urged to join a war party is also a falsehood of the grossest kind, and the large amount of arms and ammunition which he refers to in some of the articles above alluded to is also false. And for which I have taken responsibility to suspend him. But as you see he positively refuses to turn over to Mr. Howard, the assistant physician, the medicines & other property in his charge belonging to the government which is actually necessary to keep up the hospital.
    And again there are not one of the employees on the reservation that would take medicine from him and the Indians complain of him as being very inattentive to their wants.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 57.



Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 31st December informing me that certain drafts had been paid, and I am pleased to be able to state that those named close the list of the drafts that I have drawn upon your office. Your instructions will be strictly obeyed in accounting for the funds received under the proper heads. As stated in my letter of 6th inst., I am still feeding the Indians, and with provisions purchased upon the credit of the government.
    Our Indians give us as little trouble as can be expected under the circumstances. The present winter is and has been the most unpleasant one that has been experienced here for fifteen years, and the want of funds to furnish suitable protection and clothing has caused considerable suffering among the Indians in charge of agents Metcalfe and Thompson.
    Agent Metcalfe fears that the coast tribes will endeavor to return to their old homes in the spring and will fight if opposed. Agent Miller thinks those upon the Grand Ronde Reservation can be kept there with but little trouble; the Rogue Rivers express their intention to return to their old homes but he thinks he can control them.
    Agent Thompson writes under date of 4th inst. as follows: "The present winter in this section of country has been unusually severe. Great numbers of animals have died of starvation. The Indians themselves have suffered for want of food, principally for the reason that the snow fell to such a depth that they were unable to reach this point. The Tenino band and that portion of the treaty Indians who remained friendly are exceedingly anxious to learn what disposition is to be made of them in the spring. They have been compelled to leave their homes and gardens and remain in this (Dalles O.T.) vicinity during the past summer, and will [be] thereby deprived of the benefit of their gardens, which they feel a serious loss.
    "They now hold themselves in readiness to go to the reservation (Warm Springs) and are exceedingly anxious that government carry out the stipulations of the treaty (of 25th June 1855) made with them. Something must be done for them or we may expect in case of continuance of hostilities, the greater portion of those who have remained friendly to join the war party."
    Under date of 16th inst. Agent Thompson further writes, as follows: "The news from the interior indicate renewed hostilities during the coming summer. An express just in from the Yakima reports that the Indians seized the Catholic priest, bound and then flogged him, and that he had come in to the military station at Simcoe for protection. With respect to the Indians of this vicinity, if hostilities are renewed, a great many of those who returned last fall, as well as many of those who remained friendly, will undoubtedly join the war party."
    I have received many petitions from Southern Oregon stating that there are a number of Rogue River Indians remaining in that country who are causing much trouble and praying for their removal.
    I feel it my duty therefore to bring them to the reservation, and shall do so as soon as the weather will permit. I am satisfied that this is the only way to prevent bloodshed.
Hon. Commissioner of Indian Affairs
    Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 311-312.



J. F. Miller Esqr.
    Indian agent in charge of Grand Ronde Agency
        Sir
            Your letter dated yesterday was received this morning by the hand of your friend Mr. Long.
    I recognize your right to suspend the exercise of my functions as resident physician on your agency, but not your right of absolute removal without specific authority from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon. I cannot therefore comply with your order to surrender to Mr. Howard, or anybody else, the property in my charge, and for which I have receipted to the Superintendent.
    It was to avoid difficulty & embarrassment in the hospital department that induced me to tender through you on yesterday my resignation, to take effect as soon as I could conveniently settle my business here & get my family off the reservation.
    I am not aware of anything to justify your extraordinary course, consequently you are alone responsible for any injury that may result to the service in consequence of it.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, enclosure to No. 57.



A. F. Hedges
    Sir. Enclosed please find a bill written by A. G. Henry, resident physician, and directed to me, which I think was partially prompted by your instructions to him dated about the 18th of the present month, requiring him not only to report to me but continuing to urge upon him the necessity of accounting for every article of medicine & property issued by him, which he says amounts to a removal from office, and also said that he was satisfied that there was a deep-laid scheme to remove him, but says that [I] no more had the independence to do it in a manly like manner and in the same conversation said that it was just what he wanted was to be removed. I then told him to consider himself suspended, that I would not be trifled with any longer by him. Now, sir, this conduct with other falsehoods which he has written and had published in the Oregon Statesman from time to time and which was calculated if not intended to excite and alarm the citizens not only of this but of Rogue River Valley. And also the declaration that Ki-a-kuts, the high chief, had been urged to join a war party is also a falsehood of the grossest kind and the large amount of arms and ammunition which he refers to in some of [the] articles above alluded to is also false, and for which I have taken responsibility to suspend him. But as you see he positively refuses to turn over to Mr. Howard the assistant physician, the medicines & other property in his charge belonging to the government which is actually necessary to keep up the hospital.
    And again there are not one of the employees on the reservation that would take medicine from him, and the Indians complain of him as being very inattentive to their wants.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 57.



Sir
    Herewith enclosed is a certificate given me by the late Supt. Ind. Affairs (Joel Palmer) of this Territory for services rendered, as therein stated.
    The present Superintendent (Mr. Hedges) declines paying my salary upon this certificate, saying that it was Genl. Palmer's duty to have paid me to the time he was removed from office.
    Genl. Palmer, who (I suppose) will be in Washington when you receive this, can give you further explanations if required.
    Trusting that you will give such instructions as will enable me soon to receive my pay,
To G. W. Manypenny
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1257-1258.



    TREATY WITH THE KLAMATH LAKE INDIANS.--La Lakes and several of his warriors--Klamath Lake Indians--in conformity with the treaty stipulations entered into last summer with Gen. Cosby, about the time of the Modoc War, arrived in Yreka on Wednesday, the 11th of February. They have always been on friendly terms with the whites. They encamped outside of town, and on the following day (Feb. 12) a treaty was duly signed. The whites were represented by Gen. D. D. Colton, Judge A. M. Rosborough, and Judge R. B. Snelling; and the Indians by LaLakes, Cum-tuck-na, and Ter-tup-kark.
    "ARTICLE 1. It is hereby solemnly agreed and stipulated that there shall be perpetual peace between the whites and the said Ouk-ske-nah tribe of Indians.
    "ART. 2. It is agreed on the part of the Indians, and they hereby solemnly bind themselves to return any horses, cattle and property that may be stolen from the whites by any of their tribe, and to use all the efforts in their power to prevent the Mo-ah-tock-na, or Modoc tribe, and other tribes, with which they may have intercourse, from committing outrages and depredations upon the whites and their property of every description.
    "ART. 3. It is further stipulated that the said tribe of Indians may, if they desire it, come to Yreka to trade their furs, &c., for blankets, clothing, &c.; and it is agreed by and on behalf of the whites, that the said tribe shall be protected while on their trading journeys to and from Yreka, and that every effort will be made to prevent and punish any whites that may commit outrages upon the said Ouk-ske-nah tribe of Indians, so long as they remain at peace with the whites.
    "ART. 4. It is also stipulated, mutually, between the parties, that in case of any violation of these articles, the injured party shall cause to be made known to the other party the grievance or outrage, in order that the guilty persons may be punished, without a breach of friendly relations between the contracting parties."
    The Yreka Union, in referring to the matter, says:
    "Great advantages may result to the people of Northern California and Southern Oregon, from this treaty, if observed in good faith by both parties. This is said to be a strong and wealthy tribe, and capable, in case of war, of greatly annoying and harassing the whites on the frontier. Their position and influence with other and hostile tribes also, is such that they may do much to prevent outbreaks and aggressions among them. Lalakes stated in the council with our citizens that the head chief of the Modocs had recently been at his camp, and said that he did not want to fight the whites any more, and that he was willing to treat, but was afraid to come here for that purpose. He was told to tell the Modoc chief that he need not fear to come, as he would be protected; he replied at once, when Capt. Ben Wright was fighting the Modocs, he had sent word to the chiefs to come to his camp for a friendly talk, and when they came, and were in his power, he ordered his men to commence shooting and killing them, and that they were afraid to trust themselves in the power of the whites again."
    The Union, in another article, urges the necessity of some action on the part of the general government for the relief of those Indians, who are now dependent upon the citizens of that county, and says:
    "La Lakes' interpretation of the talk and stipulations (chops-ka) entered into last October, at Clear Lake, between Gen. Cosby and Cum-tuck-na, seemed, as he says, to require his presence here, and through all the obstacles of deep snow and and cold he has come. He represents the winter as a hard one, and that he has lost many horses on account of deep snow in the valleys. His people all look tired, half starved, and scant of clothing; the war made against the Indians last summer has broken, it seems, into their arrangements of laying in winter supplies during summer."
Sacramento Daily Union, March 3, 1857, page 4



    RENEGADES AMONG THE INDIANS.--A renegade called Nigger Bill is said by Lalakes, the Klamath chief, recently at Yreka, to be among the Modocs, inciting them to hostilities against the whites. He is a noted horse thief. The Yreka Union adds:
    "From information derived from Lalakes, it is rendered quite certain also that an Indian called Sitkim Bill ["Half Bill"], half Shasta and half Modoc, and some of his companions, murdered the two men on Willow Creek, in Shasta Valley, last summer, which was the immediate cause of the war. The Modoc chief told Lalakes that Sitkim Bill had killed two white men, and taken some mules and a very fine saddle. Lalakes also states that the Modoc chief disavowed any participation in the depredations committed on the whites, and said they had been done by some bad Indians, without his knowledge or authority."
Sacramento Daily Union, March 3, 1857, page 4



Sir,
    I have the honor herewith to transmit to your office, for the use of the Indian Department, a map of the Indian reservation situated on the coast in Oregon Territory, known as the "Coast Reservation," which has by the proclamation of the President of the United States been declared a reservation for the Indian tribes in that Territory, showing the proposed extension to that reservation, together with a diagram of that extension delineating the land claims purchased for use of wheat farms for the establishment of an agency, manual labor school, hospital, mills, mechanical shops, and for the settlement of the Willamette tribes as per treaty of 10th January 1854.
    It has been contemplated to locate upon this reservation, and the extension, all the Indian tribes in that Territory west of the Cascade Range of mountains numbering about four thousand souls--three thousand five hundred of whom are now located thereon--more than one-half being upon the extension.
    The principal agency buildings for these tribes, a sawmill--two school houses--a smith shop--tin shop--wagonmaker shop--a flouring mill frame, with other necessary buildings, have already been erected upon this extension.
    There has also been established upon this tract a military fort designed for two companies.
    The blue lines on the diagram designate the land claims that have been purchased.
    There are however five settlers within the limits of the designated boundary, to wit, Messrs. Babcock, Burden, Mascar, Newbill and Zimmerman, whose titles have not been purchased. There are also fractions of two other claims within its lines, the right to all of which should be acquired by the government.
    It is important that this extension, known as the "Grand Ronde," shown by red lines on the map (being town[ships] 5 & 6 south, part of ranges 7 & 8 west) be declared by the President a part and parcel of the "Coast Reservation."
    The necessity and reasons inducing the purchase of these land claims have been fully set forth in former communications directed to your office.
Hon. Geo. W. Manypenny
    Commissioner Indian Affairs
        Washington D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1205-1207.




Sir
    The bearer, Sambo, a Shasta who has been living with the Coast Indians at this station, has obtained leave to visit the Grand Ronde, for the ostensible purpose of settling a difficulty about a doctor that he killed some months since. He takes a party of Indians from this place with him, and it will be well to watch their proceedings while they are there. The Indians or a majority of them contemplate an effort to leave the reserve about the first of April, and I think this visit is to settle on some definite plan of operations. The Indians here inform me that the Shasta are all favorable to the movement but George and Limpy's bands. It is my opinion formed from the information that I have obtained from the Indians that unless the Shastas are disarmed a war is inevitable.
    You will bear in mind that these remarks are from one who has been the only white man among the Indians here for six months past, and who has superior facilities for obtaining information. In short, the Indians declare openly their determination to return to their former homes, peaceably if possible, but forcibly if necessary.
    But the Coast Indians will not move without the Shastas.
To Gen. Miller
    Indian Agent
        Grand Ronde Reserve
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, enclosure to No. 75.




Hon. Geo. W. Manypenny
    Commissioner Indian Affs.
        Sir,
            Allow me to call your attention to the claim of Saml. H. Culver, late Indian agent in Oregon. You will recollect that he was suspended by Genl. Palmer, Supt. Indian Affs., and soon after reinstated and ordered to duty and continued in the discharge of his duty until Dr. Ambrose was appointed and relieved him. It appears to me that there can be no doubt of Culver's just right to his salary & usual incidental expenses for & during the time he served, and [I] feel sure you will see the justice of the claim & have it paid.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 486-487.



Sir
    I have the honor to transmit herewith accounts of W. W. Raymond, sub-Indian agent, for the quarter ending March 31st 1856, consisting of
    Mr. Raymond's accounts for the year 1856 are all deposited in this office so far as he has completed them, but I find that they are not complete for any one quarter. I have thought best however to forward those herewith transmitted and will forward others as the examination and projection of them progresses. It is very difficult to determine upon a proper disposition of the disbursements made by Mr. Raymond during the year that he has had charge of the Grand Ronde Reservation. It was originally intended that the disbursements for improvements made upon that reservation for building houses, opening and fencing farms &c., should be considered as payments upon the annuities of the several tribes, but these expenditures are found to reach so large an amount that the annuities would be entirely inadequate to the purpose. Again, the produce of the various farms has not been devoted exclusively for the benefit of the particular tribe for which it was intended, but has been used for mutual and joint benefit of the Indians upon the reservation as their necessities from time to time required. There is, therefore, in my opinion, no more propriety in charging the cultivation of these farms to the annuities of the Indians than there would be in charging the purchase of flour and beef for their subsistence to their annuities. The annuities of these Indians are too small for any other purpose than for supplying them with the "annuity goods" for which they have a right to expect every year, and so long as it is found necessary to employ them in opening farms and making improvements on reservations, special appropriations will be necessary for the purpose. The improvements made upon the Grand Ronde Reservation since Mr. Raymond has been in charge far exceed in expense the funds furnished him to disburse, and there is consequently a large amount of indebtedness existing for labor performed and materials furnished the government upon that reservation.
    Mr. Raymond's accounts will doubtless show a large amount of money due him as having disbursed more than he has received, but a large proportion of this overdisbursement results from a course of action which has been pursued by Mr. Raymond, of the propriety of which I am in doubt; that is, in obtaining vouchers of individuals who have performed service or furnished materials in good faith by giving in payment therefor his due bill as sub-Indian agent. I desire that this office receive immediate instructions from you as to the course to be pursued. Whether I am authorized to pay the funds over to Mr. Raymond which his accounts may show to be due him, when I know that several thousand dollars of his due bills are outstanding and that a corresponding amount of the vouchers furnished in his accounts were paid in that way--the holders of these due bills are every day presenting them at this office, expecting payment, but I should not feel warranted in paying them in that shape, had I the funds, nor do I feel willing to pay over funds to Mr. Raymond for the purpose now that he is relieved from the charge of the Grand Ronde Reservation. I enclose the form of due bill given by Mr. Raymond in these instances. Immediate instruction upon this subject is earnestly desired.
    Mr. Raymond has been ordered to the Dalles to relieve agent R. R. Thompson.
Hon.
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 301-305.



Sir,
    The importance of having action by the President & Senate upon a portion of the treaties negotiated by me with the Indian tribes in the Territory of Oregon has induced me to call your attention to the subject before the adjournment of that body.
    The maintenance of peaceable relations between several of those tribes and our citizens depends very much upon the ratification of those treaties. I refer particularly to the coast treaty with the Tillamooks, Lower Umpquas, Yaquinas, Coos Bay, Coquilles, Tututnis, Joshutes & Chetcos and which confederates all the coast tribes from the Columbia River to the northern boundary of California, and also provides for their location upon the Coast Reservation, nearly all of whom in accordance therewith are now residing upon that tract and its extension. This tract has been declared a reservation by the President, but the treaty by which these tribes are confederated has not been ratified.
    All the confederated bands of the Willamette Valley treated with on the 10th January 1854 (which has been ratified) are also located upon this reservation and its extension, as also the Umpquas and Calapooias of Umpqua Valley--the Cow Creeks--the Rogue Rivers and the Shasta Scotons and Grave Creek tribes.
    The treaties with these tribes provide for the designation of tracts or parcels of land to the heads of families under certain restrictions, but the treaty with the tribes from whom this Territory was purchased and the other coast tribes located thereon not having been ratified by the Senate, or perhaps no action upon it, precludes the possibility of carrying out that provision of the treaty--besides if these tracts were assigned to individuals as contemplated by the treaties with them they would commence cultivating and be able to subsist themselves instead of being supported by the government. The failure to comply with this provision of the treaties has been a serious cause of complaint among these tribes.
    The treaty with the Molallas, who were confederated with the Umpquas and emigrated with them to this Coast Reservation and settled in the Grand Ronde, or Coast Extension, equally demands action, and for the same reasons. There are now upon this reservation over three thousand five hundred Indians.
    The treaty with the Wascopams & Deschutes bands of Walla Wallas is also one that demands immediate action. It provides for a reservation and secures to the heads of families tracts of land &c. They are exceedingly impatient on account of the delay in securing them a home, for as with the other tribes referred to their lands are taken possession of by the whites and themselves huddled together without means to provide for their own wants, disarmed and restrained from their accustomed freedom in the chase and relying almost solely upon the government for subsistence--besides it is wholly impossible under the condition of things now existing in that country to carry out the intercourse laws of Congress, but if placed upon reservations which have been approved by the President and Senate, and separated from the white settlements, where the intercourse laws can be enforced, we may hope for peace and a reformation in the condition of these people.
    If these three treaties could be acted upon and ratified, although no appropriations could now be made to carry them into effect, yet the funds which have been appropriated by the late Congress could be expended with a reference to their permanent settlement and tend much to quiet the apprehension of these unfortunate people. Everything now is in uncertainty; no fixed plans can be adopted by the agents of the government looking to permanency. The great delays in carrying out the provisions of the treaties which have been ratified, but which look to the ultimate concentration of the various scattering bands upon the fewest number of reservations practicable, causes doubts in their minds as to the intentions of the government.
    It is useless to disguise the fact that if there be an entire failure to have action upon these treaties there is eminent [sic] danger of a repetition of the scenes enacted during the last eighteen months, and should a war break out again it will not be confirmed to a few tribes, but will in all probability embrace all the tribes with whom we have heretofore been at peace, and the result could not but be disastrous to the settlements on that entire coast. By judicious and proper care it may be avoided.
    Portions of the tribes with whom we have been at war, those from Southern Oregon, would be unwilling again to join issue with us, but others, Northern Oregon & Washington, continue to boast of their ability to exterminate the white man, and it is evident they have not been chastised so as to impress them with our power or ensure their respect for our laws or the rights of our people.
    It may be improper at this date to trespass upon your time, but being acquainted with the condition of affairs in that country, and the great desire I have to see amicable relations existing between our citizens and the natives of that section, and feeling so well satisfied that so much depends upon the action of the Senate before its adjournment, has induced me to venture this communication, and I hope you will give it that consideration the subject merits.
Hon. G. W. Manypenny
    Comr. Ind. Affs.
        Washington
            D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1209-1212.



Dr. Sir
    I met the "chiefs" of all the coast tribes in council this morning, when they expressed their determination to go back to Rogue River. They will start in a few days, and as I have no force to prevent them I have to quietly submit and await your orders for future operations. There is no uncertainty about their leaving the reservation. They will most positively and unconditionally leave in a few days. I sent an express to Capt. Augur four days since asking aid, but have not heard from him as yet. Let me hear from you at the earliest possible moment. I used every argument in my power to dissuade them from their determination to leave but they finally refused to hear my interpreter or to allow him to say anything about remaining. The schooner has not been seen yet and our condition is truly distressing. Hunger and starvation is the cry on every side.
Capt. A. F. Hedges
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        O.T.
P.S. Since writing the above Lt. Sheridan has arrived with a party of 25 men.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 78.



Dear sir
    The Commissioner, under date of 20th January, transmit the enclosed blank affidavit. He says that in your bond as Indian agent you did not comply with his instructions of 25th August, which were that the oath of office should be taken before a judge of the district court or a justice of the peace. In case it is taken before a justice of the peace, his official character must be certified to by the proper court, or office, attested by the seal. He says, "These instructions are based upon laws and regulations that cannot be pretermitted by this office. I also enclose to you receipts for money which you will please sign and return by Mr. Brown as follows:

"	For pay of Indian agent	$   375.00
"	"      "     "  interpreter	125.00
"	"   general incidental expenses	2000.00
"	In all	$2500.00	"

    You will draw upon this office for the balance due from this amount after deducting the drafts already drawn in favor of Jennings & Co., N. H. Lane and J. S. McIteeny, they having been presented here. I suppose you desire them paid first.
    The news from Washington is quite favorable to a liberal appropriation of funds for our benefit.
    You will see in the Herald sent you that the appropriation bill requires but the concurrence of the House of Representatives.
    The Calumet leaves Portland today with the first load for you under your contract with Ainsworth & Co.
    I desire to locate the Shasta Scoton and Grave Creek Indians (now on Grand Ronde) in the Siletz Valley as soon as it can be done to advantage. They being under treaty stipulations with the United States it will be necessary that their farms &c. shall be conducted and funds disbursed, separate and distinct from those for the other Indians upon the reservation.
    The treaty with the coast tribes has not been confirmed, but if Congress appropriates sufficient funds we will comply as nearly with the provisions of that treaty as may be found expedient.
R. B. Metcalfe Esq.
    Indian Agent
        Coast Reservation
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 317-318.



A. F. Hedges
    Supt. of Ind. Affairs, O.T.
        Sir,
            In compliance with your request I embrace this moment to give you a brief report of the state of the Willamette School. We have just closed our second quarter under promising auspices.
    The school, at first quite small, not exceeding ten or twelve students, has increased to sixty. Of this number about one half are regular attendants; the others are very inconstant.
    The improvement of the school has exceeded my expectations. Many of the students, who at the commencement of the session were entirely ignorant of our language and in a state of filth and nudity, have undergone a great transformation. They now understand the most that I say to them and are beginning to speak intelligibly. The most of them know their letters and can spell words of one syllable. A small number can spell words of two syllables and are beginning to read. They learn the letters, figures and writing quite as readily as white children.
    It is not to be expected that they will improve as fast in reading until they become more familiar with our language, inasmuch as the letters convey to them imperfectly the sounds of the words, and words without meaning are void of interest. They have fine powers of imitation and delight to sing and write. I have found no difficulty in improving their personal appearance by the application of water, soap and cloth. Doubtless you are convinced, from the returns of the agency, that I have made a free use of the latter article. I have made and issued over two hundred garments; this, in addition to the labors of my school, has kept me most securely from falling into one of the worst of vices, idleness.
    From all I have seen since my labors here, I am convinced that the Indian children are not deficient in moral and intellectual powers, and that under propitious circumstances they would make ladies and gentlemen.
    I need not tell you that we have been embarrassed for want of a suitable room and books.
    A commodious house is being erected and would have been completed ere this had it been possible to procure materials for building. Measures are also taken to supply the school with books.
    I have thus briefly attempted to make you acquainted with the condition of our school and hope you will not deem it presumptuous in me to offer some suggestions relative to the best manner of conducting the educational interests of this reservation.
    I have no hesitancy in saying that before our schools can be of real, lasting, practical utility to the tribes, they must be established on a different basis.
    Much may be done under our present mode of instruction, but yet it is far from being efficient. In order to improve the Indian race, it is indispensable that we implant good habits in the hearts of the rising generation, and how can we hope to do this while they are daily contracting the pernicious habits of their ancestors, under the influence of which they are wasting away like the snows of April; unless we can properly educate the Indian children, I can see no ground for hope of ameliorating the condition of the tribes.
    Under the term "educate" I include such training as will render their faculties prompt and active, as will teach them to be cleanly, industrious and to supply their wants by honest labor--as will impart to them a just sense of the nature of crime, as will inspire their minds with the sublime morality of the Bible and the tender charities of the Christian religion. You are ready to inquire "Is it possible to impart to them such an education as you urge?" I answer by referring you to the history of the tribes located in the Indian Territory bordering upon the Atlantic States. They were once as warlike and deeply immersed in barbarism as these tribes; now they are a civilized, Christianized, happy people. Shall we despair with such living examples of the influences of civil and religious efforts before our eyes? Let us rather by our labors and instructions and example essay to dispel the cloud that hangs like a black eternity over this forlorn, broken people.
    A happier day may yet dawn on these long-benighted tribes. Already methinks I see gleams of twilight which portend the rising sun.
    I have said that our present school system is not efficient because we cannot bring salutary influences to bear in the formation of habits. It is not possible to keep the children cleanly as long as they return home to sleep in their filthy beds. Nor can we expect them to become industrious as long as they are permitted to spend all their time in idleness.
    As little can they be expected to perform duties of which they know nothing. To supply this desideratum I think we should establish a boarding school, in which the students should devote a portion of time to study, another to labor and the remainder to recreation. The boys should be required to cultivate a field and garden. The girls should be instructed in sewing, washing, housekeeping and cooking. Especially should they be instructed in the latter art. I am informed by the physician that their ignorance of this art is one of the chief reasons for their sickness and mortality. The provisions for the children should be issued to the boarding house. This would be an incentive to the parents to keep the children at school.
    I am aware we shall be told that schools conducted on a plan similar to what is here recommended have failed on this coast, but inasmuch as schools thus organized have proved effective among the eastern tribes, I am induced to ascribe their failure in Oregon to the manner in which they were conducted rather than to a defect in the system. But as I have already extended my remarks greatly beyond what I contemplated when I took my seat I close with the pleasing assurance that your wish to promote the welfare of the Indians will lead you to use the best means to secure that end.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 317-322.



A. F. Hedges
    Supt. Ind. Affairs
        Sir, when I wrote to you by Mr. Malory things wore a very different aspect to what they do at present. There are quite a stir among the Indians at present. I think it is entirely among themselves, but it seems that the employees are afraid to remain at the hospital any longer. I received a note from Dr. Henry stating that the cook & steward had both left and it was impossible for him to keep it open any longer and recommended the closing of the hospital for the present. Now I will give you a statement of the difficulty as near as I can now existing among the Indians. It seems that on last Saturday two Shasta squaws, the wives of two Applegate men, run off and went to the fort. These men went in search of their wives and found them at the officers' quarters and upon inquiry found that they had slept there that night, and after starting home with the women they shot them, killing one of them and wounding the other, and it seems that the brothers of the two women want to kill the Applegate Indians. It consequently creates quite a stir among the Indians and that to frighten the whites so they are all or very nearly all left the reservation.
    So far as I am concerned I don't apprehend any danger, although there may be.
    I will also send you a letter I received from the local agent at the coast, Mr. Abbott. You will also doubtless hear from Dr. Henry, as he is the bearer of this letter. After receiving the information you use your own judgment in the case. As for myself, I will remain here as though nothing had happened.
A. F. Hedges
    Supt. Ind. Affairs
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 75.



Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 10th January referring to estimated expense of the service of the Indian Department in this Superintendency for the year ending June 31st 1858. I am gratified to find that my estimate of 22nd November has received attention and hope that this office may be enabled to do good service with the funds appropriated.
    Upon the Grand Ronde Reservation the agent, John F. Miller, is using every exertion to enable the Indians to raise their own food for the next fiscal year; the winter has, however, been most unpropitious, the worst we have had for fifteen years. Upon the Coast, owing to bad weather, the wreck of the schooner Calumet, and the want of funds, nothing of importance has yet been done in the farming line, as we have scarcely been able to keep those Indians from dying from starvation and exposure. Agent Metcalfe is now actively engaged in putting in spring crops and erecting the necessary buildings in the Siletz Valley. The schooner Calumet was almost miraculously saved from total destruction in the storm of which mention was made in my letter of 19th December and has been repaired and again left Portland on the 14th inst. loaded with flour, wheat, potatoes &c. for Agent Metcalfe, purchased upon the credit of the government.
    A strong effort will be made to render these reservations self-supporting after harvest, say from 1st August next, but in order to effect this a heavy outlay is necessary in opening and fencing farms, putting in crops &c., and as I have repeatedly stated, the Indians must be fed by the government until after harvest, or they must be permitted to leave the reservations and go where they please, which latter cause I shall not adopt until I receive direct instructions from your office to do so. It will be necessary to furnish the Indians located upon the reservations with beef during the next winter to some extent, but it is hoped that the quantity may be very materially reduced below the consumption of the past winter by affording them every facility, by furnishing fishing apparatus to enable them to supply themselves with salmon during the fall season, at which time the streams of the Coast Reservation are said to abound with that fish.
    The Indians upon the Coast and Grand Ronde Indian reservations are very desirous that their lands may be surveyed and their individual locations assigned them as stipulated in the majority of the treaties made with them so that each may have his home and labor for the benefit of his own family. It is intended that the Grand Ronde Reservation shall be so surveyed and assigned during the coming summer if the step meets with the approval of your office, as it is thought such arrangement will better satisfy the Indians and be more to their advantage than the course hitherto pursued of cultivating large farms for the joint benefit of all the Indians upon the reservation.
    In the event that the treaty of 11th August 1855 with the coast tribes is ratified or if my receiving definite instructions from your office upon the course to be pursued with those Indians, I desire they shall also be located upon individual tracts and encouraged to labor and improve farms for individual support and benefit. The Wasco and Deschutes tribes, east of the Cascade Mountains, treated with 25th June 1855, are also very anxious to go upon the reservation provided by that treaty, but until that treaty is ratified I do not feel authorized to commence operations for improvements there of a permanent nature unless instructions are received from your office. I have, however, directed Sub-Agent Raymond to furnished seeds to such Indians as desire to make gardens upon that reservation and give them every encouragement in their efforts to support themselves by agricultural labor.
    I shall be very much pleased to hear of the ratification of the treaties mentioned. The number of Indians engaged in the late war, belonging to the coast tribes or to the Wascos and Deschutes, comparatively, was very small, and the advantage resulting to the government by the confirmation of these treaties and the consequent establishment of good faith with those Indians would be very great and would expedite the humane efforts of the heads of the Indian Department to ameliorate and improve the condition of the Indians.
Hon.
    Geo. W. Manypenny
        Comr. Ind. Affairs
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 309-313.



Sir
    Herewith will be found additional and corrected vouchers and explanations in support of the suspended items in my accounts for the 4th qr. 1853, 1-2-3 & 4th qrs. 1854 and the 1-2-3 & 4th qrs. 1855.
    It must be apparent to the accounting officers in your Department that with the transient population in the Pacific Supts. with whom we are often compelled to do business, it is very difficult and sometimes impossible at this late period to obtain the evidence required, and that the prices paid in the eastern Superintendencies forms no correct criterion for those on the Pacific. Besides it must not be forgotten that the peculiar condition of things in that country has rendered a greater amount of labor necessary and involved classes of expenditures while those in the older established Superintendencies. And whilst very many items may appear to them unnecessary and others extravagantly high rates, I feel satisfied that a full knowledge of the circumstances under which they were made would remove all doubts upon that subject.
Hon.
    Geo. W. Manypenny
        Commissioner Ind. Affairs.
            Washington City
                D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1213-1215.



    The Indians on the Grand Ronde Reservation, it is said, are leaving in small numbers, and returning south to their old hunting grounds. They say that they will leave in the spring. If they should attempt it there is no force to oppose them successfully.--Times.
"Arrival of the Mail from Oregon," Olympia Pioneer and Democrat, Olympia, Washington, March 20, 1857, page 6



Dr. Sir
    Yours of 14th March has just been received. I am pleased to hear there is a prospect of our being able to carry out our plans. I will go to the Grand Ronde for those Indians as soon as the weather clears up, and I earnestly hope the schooner will be in soon enough for me to put in a spring crop.
    The Indians met in council at the Yaquina and informed me that they were going back to Rogue River and requested that I would write to all of the "Boston tyees" and let them know that such was their intention so they might not think they (the Ind.) were stealing off. I have a detachment of 25 soldiers at the Yaquina which make that place safe until the schooner arrives, and then I will order out another company of soldiers and bring them all onto the Siletz and assign them their permanent homes. You may feel easy in regard to the peace in my agency. I am determined nothing shall go wrong as long as I remain here.
To
    Capt. A. F. Hedges
        Supt. Ind. Affrs.
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 76.






Sir
    I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication from Miss Mary C. Hull [above, dated March 15], school teacher for the Willamette tribes of Indians located upon the Grand Ronde Reservation, detailing the success which had attended her labors and suggesting a change in the mode of conducting the school. I agree with Miss Hull in the opinion that the most effectual method to civilize and improve the condition of our Indians is to mold the character and habits of the children, and to do this we must have them as much as possible under our own control, which can be effected more completely by a boarding and manual labor school, I think, than by any other means.
    I shall therefore take steps to establish such a school upon the Grand Ronde Reservation, hoping that it may meet with your approval.
    The object in locating Indians upon reservations being to civilize them, the most effectual means to attain that end should certainly be adopted.
    The treaty with the Molallas or Molel tribe of Indians, signed on the 21st December 1855, provides in the 4th article for just such a school as we need, and I shall be very much pleased if that treaty is ratified. It contains many other important provisions also, of which our Indians need the benefit. The tribe treated with are located upon the Grand Ronde Reservation, and, presuming upon the ratification of the treaty, late Supt. Palmer contracted for the erection of a sawmill upon that reservation, as provided for in the 2nd article, the cost of which, seven thousand dollars, must be deducted from other funds in case that treaty is not ratified.
    It was indispensably necessary that the sawmill be erected, even as a matter of pecuniary policy, as it would otherwise be impossible to procure lumber except during the summer season, and then only at an enormous expense.
Hon.
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 324.  Original on NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 314-316.



    Two modes of conducting our intercourse with the aborigines of this country have been practiced ever since its occupation by our people. The one has been to fight and subdue; the other to negotiate and seek the maintenance of friendly relations with them. The former has been the most common and popular mode; the latter generally the most economical and effectual. The fighting, however, has heretofore been done by the troops of the general government, or by volunteers subject to its directions. But, of late, on the Pacific coast, a different practice has prevailed. Parties, whenever occasion demanded, having armed and gone forth to fight the savages, looking to the state or Territorial authorities for their pay, leaving these in turn to seek indemnity for the debt thus incurred from the general government. The validity of these war debts having very properly been recognized by the latter, and their payment provided for, has, no doubt, tended to encourage certain classes of whites to create new causes of strife with the Indians, or at least to repel their aggressions in a way that would enable them to establish new claims upon the public authorities for their services. Thus, we have had an Indian war in progress on our northern borders, with some intermission for two or three years. And we speak from personal observation, in saying there were numerous parties from that quarter, at the Capital, ready to besiege the members even before the opening of the legislative session, with a view to securing favorable action upon their claims for services rendered, or supplies furnished, during the Klamath and Modoc war.
    They soon found, however, our treasury was bankrupt, and that nothing could be done, and probably most of them soon returned home, satisfied with the hopelessness of their claims. Since that period, we find, upon consulting the Yreka Union, that the whites in that section of country have bethought themselves of treating with these same savages that they have been fighting so long. And, we rejoice to say, their negotiations are likely to be attended with beneficial results to both parties. It would appear the red men are, by no means, reluctant to come to terms, when a desire for friendly relations is manifested on the part of their foes. This wish having been communicated to the Klamath tribe, about the first of the month, Lalakes, their chief, accompanied by several of his warriors, came into Yreka on the 11th ult., and having camped outside the town, the following day a treaty was entered into with them, stipulating for perpetual peace, and by the terms of which the Indians agree to return all property stolen from the whites by their tribe, and furthermore to use all their efforts to prevent any further outrages or depredations being committed on our people, either by their own or the adjacent tribes. The whites, on their part, agree to allow the Indians to come to Yreka for the purposes of trade, and to prevent any outrages being committed upon them, or punish the parties guilty of any such attempts.
    If either party have cause for complaint, their grievances are to be heard and redressed by the other without disturbing the friendly relations that exist between them. This treaty, if observed, will be of great advantage to the inhabitants of Siskiyou and Klamath counties, and of Southern Oregon, inasmuch as they have suffered severely during the late troubles with their savage neighbors; not that the Indian has always been most to blame in causing these difficulties. Sometimes he has been the aggressor; in fact, almost always to a certain extent, for these, like three-fourths of all our Indian wars, have been initiated in this wise. During the severe weather of winter, the snows covering the mountains and the ice closing up the streams, the Indian becomes pinched for food. Necessity knowing no law, he seeks to supply his wants by depredating upon the horses and cattle of his white neighbor; or maybe he attacks some packer on the mountain trails, or some frontier trader, and, having vanquished or slain the proprietor, appropriates his goods. This arouses the resentment of the white race, and bands of men, hastily arming, proceed to punish the aggressors. Not as they would punish white men--by seeking out the guilty--but by an indiscriminate attack upon entire tribes, and generally upon the first one they fall in with. Thus whole communities are sometimes cut off for the offenses of a few, and even entire tribes exterminated, none of whose members had been engaged in committing the crimes complained of. This undue severity and indiscriminate mode of attack very naturally begets on the part of the Indian a feeling of fierce and implacable hostility. In this manner is begun, and in this manner is carried on, many of our most protracted and destructive Indian wars.
    This mode of adjusting such difficulties as may arise between the two races is to be superseded, according to the provisions of the treaty, by the more just and rational one of causing their grievances to be mutually made known, in order that the guilty individuals may be punished, while the innocent are protected from slaughter, and thus justice be done without breach of friendship between the parties.
    This mode of regulating intercourse and securing justice will no doubt tend to greater security to life and property, and also to diminish the war spirit amongst our own braves.
    The Klamaths, says the Union, are a strong and brave tribe, capable, in case of war, of greatly annoying and harassing the whites on the frontier. Their position and influence with other and hostile tribes also is such that they may do much to prevent outbreaks and aggressions among them. Lalakes stated in the counsel with our citizens that the head chief of the Modocs had recently been at his camp and said that he did not want to fight the whites anymore, and that he was willing to treat, but was afraid to come here for that purpose. He was told to tell the Modoc chief that he need not fear to come, as he would be protected; he replied at once, when Capt. Ben. Wright was fighting the Modocs, he had sent word to the chiefs to come to his camp for a friendly talk, and when they came and were in his power, he ordered his men to commence shooting and killing them, and that they were afraid to trust themselves in the power of the whites again.
    We shall henceforth look for less trouble with the Indians in that quarter, and consequently for smaller demands against the state for military services and supplies.
    The general government should at once take measures for the relief of those tribes, as they are now in a measure dependent upon the whites. Lalakes says the winter has been very severe, and he has lost many horses on account of deep snow in the valleys. His people all look tired, half starved, and are scant of clothing, the war last summer having broke into their arrangements of laying in winter supplies.
Alta California, San Francisco, March 23, 1857, page 1
 



Sir
    Information received at this office from officers both civil & military on the Coast Reservation north confirm the reports that extensive preparations are now being made by the Indians to leave for their former homes early in the spring, that their success or failure will depend on the military force here (Fort Umpqua). That more troops are requisite is evident. With a force of 150 or 200 men it would be almost impossible for them to leave via the Umpqua, yet the commander at this point informs me that "not more than 45 men are here now" & desertion would prompt him to defend the garrison with his entire force.
    Two companies are now at or near San Francisco designed for Oregon in the spring. An earnest appeal for troops by you it is thought would have the effect to obtain one if not both companies for this post. In the alacrity of the Department in forwarding troops to Umpqua will (I opine) depend the peace & security of the white settlements on this coast south & the quiet of the Indians on the reserve north.
    I most respectfully make the representations to you hoping that they may meet your approbation & a request for more troops at this point may be forwarded by the next mail.
    Indians within this district are quiet & apparently satisfied.
    The alarming necessity of an increased military force here will I hope prove a sufficient excuse for this hasty comment within.
Capt. A. F. Hedges
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        Oregon City O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 88.



Capt. Hedges
    Sir
        I arrived here on the 3rd inst. safe and sound. I have ascertained that there is about thirty bucks and about the same number of squaws and children at Chetco River and 6 bucks and 5 squaws at Pistol River. The farmers in Chetco Valley want the Indians taken away from there if they can be. The Pistol River Indians are in the mountains and would be very hard to get at until summer fairly sets in; the others could be got without any trouble. The above statement I have just received from Mr. Robert N. Forsyth, who has just returned from Crescent City via the coast.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 96.



Dear Sir
    Yours of March 20 was duly received. I have obtained a few garden seeds, not near enough I should have of any kind. The Department owes for keeping the oxen and Indians' horses the past winter, at several different individuals', with over 300 bushels of oats & some potatoes. Near $1000.00 dollars and we still need from 300 to 400 bushels oats more, also from 2 to 3 bushels potatoes, but I have no money to pay for any of these things. The people are becoming impatient about their pay. I am obliged to have all of our seed oats & potatoes. It is very hard on the oxen; they are very poor and weak. The reason they are so, we have no grain to feed to them. There needs to be 5 or 6 hundred acres of new ground broke up this spring in order to be able to put in wheat enough to bread the Indians a year from the next fall coming. The oxen we now have on the reservation will not be able to do any breaking of new ground. This spring we shall have to hire teams or buy some. It is my opinion that it would be cheaper to buy than to hire. For this reason the Department have not got oxen enough to supply the Indians when their land may be set off to them. The first cost of oxen would not amount to more than to break the ground. I solicit advice.
Capt.
    A. F. Hedges
        Supt. Ind. Affairs
            Office Oregon City
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 92.



Sir,
    I saw this morning, and with pleasure, the publication here of a telegraphic dispatch announcing your appointment as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Allow me to congratulate you upon its mention; though it may be the extremely arduous duties of the office render it doubtful whether it should really be a subject of congratulation on the part of your friends or otherwise. It is certain your office is no sinecure.
    Expecting to be absent from home during a portion of this spring and summer, I would call your attention to my unadjusted claim for services as agent in Southern Oregon. Its nature is fully known to you, and the proofs establishing it are on file, and I am anxious to have the matter acted upon as early as the business of your bureau will permit. It has already been a long time since the services were rendered and the expenditures made which constitute my claim, and I feel that I should not be delayed in receiving the amount longer than is necessary for the matter to be reached and acted upon.
    I would express the hope that you will give the matter attention at your earliest convenience.
Hon. Chas. E. Mix
    Commissioner Ind. Affairs
        Washington D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 158-160.



    ROGUE RIVER INDIANS.--The Rogue River Indians, who have been removed to the Alsea reserve, sixty miles north of the Umpqua River, are said to be very much dissatisfied with their position, and are making preparations to return to their old quarters. They number about 1,100, and have plenty of revolvers and other firearms among them. The troops at Fort Umpqua, numbering about 75 soldiers, are said to be determined to intercept the Indians, and force them to go back to the Reserve or fight.
Mountain Democrat, Placerville, California, April 11, 1857, page 2



Dear Sir
    I have to request that you will furnish me with a portion of your command for the purpose of disarming certain Indians, who have refused to give up their guns upon my request. This measure is rendered absolutely necessary, as the employees of the Department refuse to remain upon the reservation whilst the Indians have the means within their possession of taking their lives. Four left yesterday upon that account. I hear that a portion of your command will leave the reservation in the morning. The prospect of resistance is exactly in proportion to the number of armed men that the Indians see. With all of our detachment present I anticipate that no difficulty would occur in disarming them. The safety of the lives of those upon the reservation, as well as the prosecution of the public works under my charge, depends upon your prompt cooperation.
Lieut. Sheridan
    Comd. Detach. 4th U.S. Inf.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, Document B of No. 200.  A copy of this letter was also included as the third enclosure to No. 197.




Sir
    I regret that I have not the authority to furnish you with the detachment of troops which you request for the purpose of disarming the Indians. The Indians have but few guns, and I am satisfied have come here from the Yaquina Bay with the best intentions of not only remaining peaceable but of regarding this as their future home.
    It will be necessary for you to make your requisition with the commanding officer of this point of the reservation, Captain C. C. Augur, 4th Infantry.
    I will leave 25 men for the protection of your employees, which I consider abundant.
R. B. Metcalfe, Esq.
    Indian Agent
        Siletz Agency O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, enclosure to No. 197.  The original can be found on Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, Document B of No. 200.



Sir
    Your letter of instruction dated March 22nd was received on the 25th and on the 28th I was [illegible] after the arrival of the schooner with [illegible] returned [illegible] did not desire it [illegible] to remove the Indians south [illegible] as they could subsist themselves [illegible] scattered.
    On the evening of the [illegible] of April, the schooner came in and on the 10th I called a council of the chiefs, the agent having informed me that he was ready to receive them, [illegible] them with having [illegible] with a combination to leave the reservation and told them the consequences of such a [illegible] and that they would have to regard the Siletz as their future home, and that they must not only abandon all intentions of leaving but would have to stop talking about it. They replied that they could not deny that they had intended to leave the reservation but that they would now give it up and would go wherever directed and would go to the Siletz with the intention of making it their future home and were willing to live there in peace forever. They said that when they delivered up their guns at Port Orford it was with the promise that they would be brought up to the reservation [half a page illegible]
    During the time that I have been here I have endeavored to ascertain the reason of their discontent and attribute it to two causes.
    1st. The determined hostility of the agents placed over these Indians, which [illegible] a feeling of unsafety amongst them. In addition the agent, Mr. Metcalfe, has surrounded himself with employees who were engaged in hostilities with them in the lower country and who do not hesitate to express the most improper and hostile language towards them.
    2nd. The suffering from want of food during the last winter.
Capt. C. C. Augur
    4th Infantry
        Comdg. Fort Hoskins
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, second enclosure to No. 197.



Sir
    I called upon Lieut. Sheridan yesterday for a [illegible] I considered it unsafe to have [illegible] at my request and he refused to render me aid, [illegible] that he had no authority to [illegible] I suppose reasoning in the same way if an Indian were to shoot one of my employees he would have to [illegible] before he could [illegible] therefore when the necessity of having a military force there if they could not be used to enforce obedience to the requisitions of the Indian Department must look to some other source for [illegible] to the Department [illegible] and called a council of the Indians [illegible] the remainder will be given up today except a few desperadoes who steadily refuse to give them up, and whom I would arrest if [illegible] force of arms were sufficient to guard them after the arrest.
    [illegible] the employees have expressed a [illegible] to leave the reservation if the Indians are [illegible] to hold in their possession the [illegible] their lives at any moment they choose to do so [illegible] without a [illegible] exertion on your part I will be compelled to abandon the [illegible] leave the reservation.
    Please let [illegible]
Captain C. C. Augur
    4th Inf. Army
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, fifth enclosure to No. 197.   Transcribed from very faint microfilm.



Sir
    Your letter of the 15th instant has been received, and during the absence of Captain C. C. Augur 4th Infantry, who is at present at Vancouver, I have the honor to reply to it. I regret exceedingly that you should be disposed to regard any refusal to grant you a detachment of men to disarm the Indians in the light you do. I was entrusted with the removal of the Indians of which you have now such fear from the Yaquina Bay to your Agency, and can myself as well as your agent, Dr. Abbott and Lieut. Wheeler, who was with me, bear testimony to the good feeling exhibited by them at the council and the alacrity with which they moved from that place as soon as directed. When in council with them at Yaquina Bay, I tacitly gave them to understand that I would not at the present time require of them to deliver up the few arms which I knew them to have, and this in the presence of your agent Mr. Abbott, who made no objection and who had your authority for their removal. I therefore think it very unfortunate that you should have been so hasty in demanding their arms on the arrival of the advance at your Agency before you knew what had occurred at the Yaquina Bay, but to remedy this misfortune, I immediately on my arrival at your place called on you and informed you of what had occurred, and earnestly requested that you would not proceed further at the present time, and that in a few days the company of the 9th Infantry, now en route to this place, would be here and that you could consult with the commanding officer of that company who is to be the future commanding officer of this post on the subject, and that I would leave 25 men at your Agency to give protection to your employees and which I considered sufficient.
    Notwithstanding all this you made a requisition on me for a detachment. I had no authority to give it to you but left you a force sufficient to give confidence to your employees when no danger was to be apprehended about [illegible] that it was unnecessary to leave any men at your Agency. Not fully [illegible] your object after your note of yesterday I thought it best to leave them, You then consequently informed me that it was your intention not to issue any more rations to the Indians until they had given up their arms and that the consequences would be that hunger would compel them to take things by force and that you would pitch into them & kill as many as you could, that you had three or four men who would stand by you until all were killed. I earnestly beg that you will not pursue such a course which will end in a war of extermination in order to obtain those three or four guns, which you say will not be given up, as but a few days will intervene until I am confident steps will be taken by the future commanding officer of this post to obtain them legitimately.
Correct copy
    (signed) C. C. Augur
        Capt. 4th Infantry
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, sixth enclosure to No. 197.




Sir:
    I had the honor to report to you on the 12th instant the successful removal of the Coast Indians to the Agency in the Siletz Valley. I arrived at the same place with my detachment on the morning of the 14th and learned with regret the unpolitic and excitable conduct of Mr. Metcalfe, the agent. I heard that immediately on the arrival of the advance of the Indians he had demanded their guns, and when the Indians refused or hesitated to give them up had used the most violent language towards them. I at once called upon him and informed him of what had taken place at the council at the Yaquina and pointed out to him the imprudence of exciting them at the present time, that I was under orders to repair at once to Fort Hoskins and that in a few days a company of the 9th Infantry would be here, and that he would consult with the officer of that company, who in future would be the commanding officer of this point, and that in the meantime I would leave at his Agency 25 men to give confidence to his employees, who were unnecessarily alarmed. Notwithstanding this, he still persisted in getting their arms and made a requisition on me for a party to disarm them, a copy of which I enclose, also my reply referring him to you as the proper person to apply to. After receiving my note, he armed four or five of his employees, called a council of the chiefs, spoke to them in an inflammatory and hostile manner and finally told them that he would go and bring my command up, this after my official refusal to give him assistance for that purpose. This latter threat induced the Indians to give up nearly all their guns.
    This morning I again called on him, when he informed me that it was his intention not to issue any more rations to the Indians until they had given up their guns and that the consequences would be that hunger would compel them to take things by force and then he would pitch into them and kill as many as he could, that he, at least, had three or four men who would stand by him until they were all killed.
    The conduct of Mr. Metcalfe is very much to be regretted. It has to a great extent destroyed the good feelings with which the Indians had moved to the Siletz, where from the representations of Special Agent Abbott, who was at the council at Yaquina Bay, they expected to be well received.
    This conduct of Mr. Metcalfe gives still greater credit to the opinion expressed in my report of the 13th instant, that the principal cause of dissatisfaction among the Indians was the want of confidence in the agents and many of their employees.
Captain C. C. Augur
    4th Inf. Comdg.
        Fort Hoskins
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, seventh enclosure to No. 197.



Sir:
    I beg leave to present for your consideration some items of account connected with my service as late Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Oregon, which remain unadjusted. I submit now but two, having to wait for necessary evidence from Oregon, which I have not heretofore succeeded in obtaining, in reference to several others, which I will take the liberty of laying before you at some other time.
    1st. My salary as Superintendent from April 20th to May 3rd 1853 inclusive--14 days.
    My successor was qualified and took possession of the office on the 4th day of May, up to which time I remained in charge thereof, and of the books, papers and public property. I received compensation only to the 20th of April, and therefore, according to all usage and justice, and entitled to my pay for the intervening period. No one having been paid for this time there can, of course, be no difficulty in regard to this item.
    2nd. Mileage or traveling expenses returning from Oregon in 1853 after being superseded.
    In December 1852 I sent on my resignation, to take effect the following 30th June. No action was had thereon, and before the time named for it to take effect I was superseded with the rest of the government officers in the Territory.
    I was not a resident of Oregon and only went there in consequence of my appointment. During the term of my service, it was the settled custom to allow mileage, or traveling expenses, to officers going to or returning from such distant posts. It was not considered just to subject them to so heavy a tax out of their own limited compensation. If a precedent were needed, I could refer to the case of Beverly S. Allen of Kentucky, commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Indians in Oregon. His services having been terminated by a law which required all such negotiations to be performed by the officers of the Indian Department, the duties which had been confided to him and two other commissioners, appointed with him, were imposed upon me. He returned home and was allowed his traveling expenses. There were doubtless other similar cases, but I have not considered it necessary to search for them, such being the settled custom at the time as stated. Under these circumstances, I presumed there can be no reasonable objection whatever interposed to the allowance of this item.
Hon. J. Denver
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 191-194.



Sir
    I have the honor to report that the Indians at this encampment have enjoyed better health during the last quarter than the quarter previous. The improvement is evidently attributable to the weather being more favorable to their outdoor pursuits and their being well supplied with game and fresh fish.
    Were it not for the presence of scrofula in its various forms, this encampment would have little cause of disease. The cause of scrofula is doubtless attributable to hereditary contamination from their forefathers. This disease can only be removed by a generous supply of wholesome and well-cooked food. The potato, which is raised at this place with little labor, is especially adapted to the system depraved by scrofula, and its liberal use would soon effect an improvement in the health of these people.
    The diseases of the last quarter were mostly of an inflammatory character, embracing dysentery, bronchitis, pleurisy and ophthalmia. There were two deaths, one a child from dropsy, the other a man from old age.
A. F. Hedges
    Superintendent of
        Indian Affairs
            Oregon Ter.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 546-548.




Major,
    I have the honor to enclose herewith for the consideration of the colonel commanding the department a series of reports and letters on Indian affairs at this point of the reservation.
    I have only to add that the services of Lieut. Sheridan in the pacification and removal of the Indians, and his intelligence and knowledge of the state of affairs there, entitle his reports and opinions to implicit confidence.
    Mr. Metcalfe's complaint of the apprehension of his employees should attach to himself, and arise from his having located his agency so far away from the military post. When about locating it, I suggested that he should do so in the same prairie with the post, as there would be undoubtedly times when its protection would be required by the agents and their employees. I am informed by a credible person that one reason assigned the Superintendent for locating where he did was to get away from the post, and now he requests a force to be kept there to allay the apprehensions of his employees.
    There is no reason connected with the good of the service, in my opinion, why the agency should be at its present location, and certainly no good reason why government should be put to the trouble and expense of keeping up a separate post there to gratify Mr. Metcalfe's fancy for retaining his agency there.
    Captain Dent, 9th Infantry, arrived here with his company on the 18th to relieve me. So soon as he shall have relieved that portion of my company at the blockhouse and agency, my company will be in readiness to proceed to Vancouver en route for the Dalles.
Major W. W. Mackall
    Asst. Adjt. Genl.
        Benicia Cal.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, eighth enclosure to No. 197.



Hon. James B. Henry
    Dear Sir
        The enclosed extract from a letter received from my highly esteemed friend the Rev. Edward R. Geary contains so much that is peculiarly applicable to the condition of our Indian affairs here in Oregon that I am anxious to have the attention of the President called to it.
    Mr. Geary is a Presbyterian clergyman, as remarkable for his piety as for his devoted patriotism. He was recommended, without any agency on his part, by our legislature for the office of Superintendent in place of Genl. Palmer, but his appointment was defeated by a combination of selfish and infidel influences, such as now control the Indian Department of the Territory.
    He is a native of Pennsylvania (a brother of Gov. Geary of Kansas) and a great admirer of Mr. Buchanan personally and politically, but would not now relinquish his ministerial labors for any office in the gift of the President.
   
    "With you, I regard our Indians, degraded as they are by the most groveling vices of civilization superadded to those of the savage, as not incapable for being elevated to relish and enjoy the blessings of intelligence and religion. Directed by judicious and true men, the provisions made by our government are adequate, with the Divine blessing, to the accomplishment of this philanthropic and noble object. But benevolent intentions and liberal appropriations avail little unless followed by energetic, beneficent and just administration. Nor will these avail while counteracted by the degrading influence of unrestricted and licentious intercourse between the soldiery and the savages. I wish to be clearly understood as having no prejudice against our standing army or its officers. The institution cannot well be dispensed with, and as a class its officers, in moral tone and intelligence, are unsurpassed by those of any standing army that has ever existed. Armies, however, are not schools of morals, and I do most sincerely regard it as due to our national honor and essential to the success of the avowed policy toward the waning Indian tribes, collected on our reservations, that garrisons should be so located and such discipline enforced both in them and on the reservations as to cut off all intercourse between soldiers and Indians. If this cannot be effected, a government of angels would be utterly unavailing to the social and moral improvement of our Indians, and the reproach of a failure to accomplish anything for their good must rest upon our national character. The change I regard as necessary [and] should be based on specific law and not merely on a post regulation.
    "But the influences counteractive of good lie not solely in the direction just referred to. Wolves will make good shepherds sooner than wise, humane and elevating measures will be conducted to successful issues by selfish, mercenary and corrupt men. Our government I regard as sincerely desiring to benefit the aboriginal race. It should therefore realize that the end is only attainable by separating them from the contamination of libertines and filling the post of every agent and employee with persons of ability, conscientiousness and humanity. But can such a choice of officials and aides ever be effected under party regimen? I am free to say I think not. While the god-like work of civilizing and elevating the degraded and downtrodden is committed to men commended by no adaptation to the enterprise, but merely that the emoluments of the respective positions may reward some partisan zeal or service, what can be expected but the exhibition of a hypocritical farce, resulting in melancholy failures?
    "It is not compatible with the genius of our government to commit such enterprises to the denominational control of any ecclesiastical body. But the genuine spirit of Christian philanthropy, as it beamed in the heart of an Elliott or Brainerd, a Howard and a Miss Dix, must in order to [achieve] success be the soul of all such undertakings. Heartless atheism is as inadequate to their accomplishment as a dead body to perform the functions of a living one. How can that man exert a good and not an evil influence whose heart is wrapped in the sevenfold coverings of selfishness & whose lips emit the language of ribaldry and profanity as naturally and almost as constantly as a putrid carcass its offensive effluvia! Hell never laughed at anything more wickedly ridiculous than the placing of such a creature in such a position.
    "Yet just such men obtain prominence in the drill of parties--their claims must be satisfied, and when preferred to a position, their chief end is, in the phrasing of the saloons, 'to make a good thing of it.' In what I have written my remarks are not intended to be personal as regards anyone.
    "I know of but one way to bring about the efficient administration of our Indian affairs, making all things tend to their proper and legitimate ends. The President-elect is I believe a man of pure and benevolent spirit. Let then the men of like character in this Territory occupying positions and with reputations that will commend them to his confidence unite their efforts to bring the subject clearly before him and recommend efficient, good and true men of this Democratic Party in the Territory for the several governmental positions in 'Indian affairs' here, and let the same men support and encourage these officers in selecting competent and trustworthy men as employees and in promptly, but upon proper evidence, dismissing everyone recreant to his trust. This may lead to successful issues & I believe nothing less will. Yet I must say I have no expectation that this will be done or attempted. Our Indians are doomed, but not because destitute of a capacity for civilization and religious development--they have the corrupt nature and also all the improvability of man--neither more nor less. But because on the side of civilization the influences efficient of good are feeble and counteracted by those that are potent to debase and destroy.
    ". . . forward and manly course of action. This is my support, and it is a pillar of brass. If I have erred it has been in being too remiss in my own vindication, and by a careless indifference to the assaults of vindictiveness. I know but little of what my enemies and their toadies may have said or done to oppose my good name, or exclude me from positions to which I was recommended, but which I never sought. I feel like a mariner looking forth, from his castle near the shore, on the billows that lately threatened to engulf him, fully resolved never again to commit himself to their treacherous bosom. I cannot conceive that my recession from the political arena will be anyone's loss, and I have already found it in a high and holy sense my gains! I have more true enjoyment in renewing my acquaintance with classic authors and preparing myself for the duties of my profession in a single day than a previous year afforded me. I have no desire for and will accept of no political favors.
    "I thank you for the interest you expressed in my behalf [illegible] brother. You have well said, 'It can do no harm.'"
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 341-346.



Hon. Jacob Thompson
    Secy. of the Interior
        Sir
            I have just arrived, have met Genl. Nesmith, lately appointed Superintendent [of] Indian Affrs. for Oregon & Washington Territories. He will accept and will forward his bonds by the next steamer. In your instructions you have directed the offices of Superintendent at Oregon City; now you must permit me to say that the office ought to be located at Salem, the present seat of govt. It is much more convenient to the Indians with greater facilities for dispatching business and for communicating with agts. and sub-agts., and in all respects a better location. You will therefore I trust allow him to establish his office at Salem.
    Allow me also to beg you to see that no appointments are made for Oregon or changes made till I can write you. I shall be in Washington in Nov. next.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 363-365.



Sir:
    Your communication of the 18th ult. has been received.
    I have complied with the request therein contained, and now enclose the official bond and oath of James W. Nesmith, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territories of Washington and Oregon, having given to him "a certificate that his bond has been executed, and his oath taken according to instructions."
    The Superintendent has assumed the responsibility of removing the office from Oregon City to Salem, the seat of government of this Territory. I think that circumstances made this change necessary, and believe that the public service will be benefited thereby.
To Geo. W. Manypenny
    Commissioner &c. &c.
        Washington City
            D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1194-1196.



Sir
    I have the honor to enclose herewith an abstract of expenses incurred by me in traveling from Dayton, Oregon Territory to Washington City on account of business connected with the Indian Department.
    In support and explanation of those expenditures I have to remark that I deemed my presence here demanded for the reason that a large amount of drafts drawn by me under instructions from the office [of the] Commissioner [of] Indian Affairs, on the Interior Department, for funds to defray the expenses of the Indian Service in that Territory were protested, and the parties to whom those drafts had been disposed of were claiming from me damages, percents and costs of protests: In some instances peremptory demands were made for refunding the amounts thus obtained with damages of ten percent [and] interest at from 3 to 5 percent per month, the usual rates in that country. In one instance I redeemed the draft, but my pecuniary condition did not enable me to refund to all the parties amounts realized on those drafts. In some instances those demands were made upon the ground that I had drawn for an amount exceeding the limits given by my instructions; this in substance was contained in a letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in reply to one of the parties to whom drafts had been consigned, when in fact no limits had been set for any amount necessary to carry out the policy adopted in the management of those Indians.
    The great length of time required to correspond with the Department from that coast, and the urgent necessity for a speedy adjustment of difficulties upon which these protests were based, I regarded as imperatively demanding immediate action. The drafts were drawn strictly in accordance with instructions, and the intimation in the letter of the Commissioner referred to, that they could not be paid until I came on and settled my accounts unless the vouchers had been forwarded &c., determined me to visit in person the office at Washington City.
    Besides these reasons, there were a large amount of unsettled accounts, explanations upon which were likely to be required in order to a just and proper settlement, which if left to correspondence by mail would cause great delay. The amount of vouchers brought by me for the fractional part of 3rd quarter 1856 exceeded ninety-two thousand dollars, in addition to which were the unexamined vouchers for the 1st & 2nd quarters of 1856. The extraordinary condition of affairs in that Territory during the period for which these vouchers were taken rendered necessary explanations which could better be given at Washington than by correspondence. The very large amount of disbursements rendered necessary in the last few quarters in that Superintendency, and the varied character of those disbursements, would necessarily require more detailed explanations than in the settlement of accounts under the ordinary rules governing discharge agents. When it is recollected too that the accounts for that Superintendency had been running for nearly 4 years without closing or finally adjusting any of the accounts, and that it has been usual for Supts. upon that coast to visit your office in person to settle their accounts, the expense of which has been paid by the government, it appears to me but just that my expenses should be allowed. The fact of my having been removed from office does not appear to me a sufficient reason for departing from the rule, particularly when that removal was not based upon any neglect of duty, and in this case when it was done without just cause, allowing no time to perfect accounts which owing to a state of war had greatly accumulated in the office, it is but just that the government should assume the payment of all necessary expenses incurred in closing up the business.
    These items of expenditures were not carried into my former abstract for reason that some of the accounting officers suggested they might be disallowed and thus embarrass the settlement of other accounts. I therefore submit the matter to your decision, claiming that these expenditures were necessarily incurred by the acts of the officers in the Indian Department and not resulting from any dereliction of duty on my part.
    Third parties were being injured by having drafts protested, the funds for which had been obtained and disbursed in the public service strictly in accordance with instructions from the Department--besides it was subjecting the officer who drew the drafts to expense and censure and also subjecting officers on that coast to additional difficulties in their future operations.
    It will be seen that I have claimed in this bill only for actual traveling expenses, and board & lodging whilst here and added thereto the amount deemed necessary to defray my expenses in returning.
    The first eleven items were caused by having started to Portland designing to take steamer at that point, but as the steamship did not arrive at the usual time I proceeded to Astoria, where I found she had returned from that point on account of ice in the Columbia River.
    I have omitted to obtain vouchers in all cases, for instance, [for] my passage from San Francisco to New York there is no voucher. The price established for that trip [on the] 5th [of] February was $250 for first cabin & $160 for second cabin. By the interposition of a friend they gave me passage in first cabin at the rate of second, and that amount only is charged.
    In addition to the amounts charged in this abstract I claim that it is but just that a reasonable allowance should be made for my services, for in addition to the time spent in the journey I have been almost constantly, except about one month, since the 16th August last engaged in the service, in the settlement of accounts, in arranging the papers, obtaining receipts, affidavits and certificates, and in visiting and counciling with the Indians, to do which required traveling over the country and incurring expenditures resulting from the nature of the service previously performed, for the existence of a war had forced a large amount of business upon the office beyond a possibility of closing before Mr. Hedges took charge of the Superintendency, and the character of these accounts were many of them such that no other person could properly adjust them. Mr. Hedges claimed that all business requiring only the payment and procurement of themselves must be closed by me and not subject him to the task of doing that of which he had no knowledge. These services then it may be said were gratuitously performed; [it] was notwithstanding important and beneficial to the government, and in support of this position an abundance of evidence can be secured from parties perfectly familiar with those duties, besides which I have paid for clerical services $250, for which no charge has been brought forward.
    The amount of extra services not enclosed in previous accounts, and [for] clerk hired as above I propose submitting in a supplemental abstract with other vouchers yet to be taken for amounts paid whilst acting as Supt., a portion of which have once been obtained in duplicate, but were mislaid or lent, and the parties could not be found up to the time I left the Territory to sign other vouchers.
    With these remarks I submit the account and the points raised for your decision.
To the Honl.
    Commissioner Ind. Affairs
        Washington City
            D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1216-1221.



To the Hon. the Commissioner Ind. Affairs
    Washington City D.C.
        Sir
            The last mail brought me a letter from Genl. Joel Palmer, late Supt. Indian Affairs of this Territory, dated 18th March last. In this letter the Genl. stated that the account I presented for payment to the Ind. Department at Washington would not pass for want of certificate of service by the authorized agent or the acting Superintendent. The account arose for services performed by myself in closing the papers of my local agency on the Coast Reservation last year, being a balance of $150, say one hundred and fifty dollars. I made application to Superintendent Hedges for the amount, which he did not see proper to pay. I thereupon sent to your office, knowing that Genl. Palmer would be there & from whom I recd. my appointment of local agt. on the coast & could give the needful explanations. Previous to sending my a/c I forwarded the account of James P. Day & others engaged to conduct some Indians from South Umpqua to the Grand Ronde Ind. Reservation, for which service Superintendent Hedges refused to pay (as explained in my letter accompanying the account). Of this account & its disposition Genl. Palmer does not speak. Will you do me the kindness to inform me what action you will take upon this & my demand against the Ind. Department at your earliest convenient moment.
    Should Genl. Palmer be in Washington upon the arrival of this I hope you will call upon him for sustaining information of what I have said.
    An experience of 24 years among the Inds. of this Territory assures me that they are not the ruthless & barbarous people represented by many newspaper reporters from this country. For a natural folk, I say that they do now & have ever manifested towards the whites the most abiding confidence & friendship, and that the origin of all our forays with them has arisen from the improper conduct of our people, whose ungenial spirit I see (regrettingly) bent upon their destruction and annihilation. And most painful too, to find that some of the agents are of that class.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1390-1393.






   
Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 18th March informing me of the appointment of J. W. Nesmith as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Territories of Oregon and Washington, which letter was received on the 22nd April, and, governed by the instructions therein contained, I turned over the property of the Indian Department in my possession to Mr. Nesmith on the 1st inst., closing my term of service on the 30th April. Abstracts "A" and "B," showing all the disbursements made by me, commencing January 1st and ending April 30th, are transmitted herewith and also my account current for the same period, which papers inform you of the disbursement of all public funds which have been placed in my hands.
    Vouchers No. 35, 65 and 67 of Abstract "A" will be forwarded by mail of 25th ult. My final property accounts will be made up and forwarded by the same mail if possible. Hoping that the accounts forwarded herewith will be satisfactory,
Hon.
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 338-340.




Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of March 18, informing me of my appointment and enclosing commission and form of bond. I filled the bond in accordance with instructions and filed it with Governor Curry to be forwarded and suppose it will be transmitted to you on the next steamer, leaving here about the 10th instant.
    I waited upon A. F. Hedges, Esq., at Oregon City, and on the first day of May inst. he turned over to me the office, books and papers belonging to this Superintendency, together with a small amount of public property, a statement of which will be furnished at the close of the current quarter. The present emergencies of the public service causes me to regret exceedingly that Mr. Hedges was unable to turn over to me any funds; consequently I am left without a single dollar to discharge even the current expenses of the office, to say nothing of the large and daily increasing debt of the Indian Service within this Superintendency. I have assumed the responsibility of removing the Superintendent's office from Oregon City to this place (Salem.) This change I conceived to be necessary for the interests of the government, as well as for the greater convenience of the Superintendent. My present location places me within convenient distances and easy access to the great Coast and Grand Ronde reservations, which are the most important points at which Indians are assembled within the two territories. Another inducement for the removal was the extreme difficulty in finding any accommodations for employees and others having business with the office. There being no public house or hotel at Oregon City, Salem is the seat of government for Oregon Territory and easy of access from all points. I trust that my act, in this particular, may meet with your approval. Since assuming the duties of the office, I have by careful examinations endeavored to inform myself of the existing policy and instructions from your office to the Superintendent in Oregon and have to state that it is out of my power to give you anything like an approximate estimate "of funds required to meet present liabilities," as there is no data on file in this office which will furnish the desired information. I am informed, however, by Mr. Hedges that the whole amount of the appropriations for the current year will be required to pay outstanding liabilities and defray the expense of maintaining peace up to the 30th of June, 1857. While I regret that it is out of my power to give you the positive information demanded by your instructions, in relation to existing liabilities, as well as an exact estimate of funds required for the same up to the 30th June next, I desire to say that I have taken the only steps in my power to accomplish that object and have written to the different agents in the Oregon Superintendency, requiring them to furnish those estimates for the respective agencies under their charge. Owing to the remoteness of some of those agencies, and the great amount of business which the present policy has thrown upon the hands of the agents, it will necessarily be some time before those estimates can be submitted. I cannot, however, in the meantime be too urgent in my request to be furnished with an immediate supply of funds and would respectfully request that the entire unexpended remainder of the appropriation for the year ending June 30, 1857, be placed at my control. You will now readily understand this necessity, when I inform you that the great amount of existing liabilities of the service has reduced its credit to a very low state, besides money is worth two per ct. per month, and those who furnish supplies on credit, charge a price sufficient to reimburse them for all those contingencies; a credit system on the part of the government is anywhere bad in its effects, and this coast is the last place that should be selected to adopt it, as every article purchased under it costs from twenty-five to fifty percent higher than the same purchases could be made for cash down. In this connection, I would also suggest that if the former policy is to be pursued, of remitting drafts to the Superintendent, that they be sent in those of small denominations, say from three to five thousand dollars each, as it is sometimes difficult to cash larger amounts; drafts on New York would be preferable to those on San Francisco, as the most of the remittances of business men are to the former place, it is often impossible to negotiate drafts on the latter. The Indians with whom we have treaty stipulations ratified are clamorous in their demands for their annuities, and I would request that the means be furnished to meet them. There was forwarded to your office by my predecessor, on the 22 Jany. last, a schedule of Indian goods necessary for this Superintendency. If they have not already been shipped, I would recommend that it be promptly done, as every article is at this moment needed; besides, they can be sent much cheaper from the Atlantic States than they can be purchased here. I would also request that I be furnished, for the use of the different agents and sub-agents, a number of printed copies of the different treaties with tribes in this Superintendency, also a few copies of laws and regulations for the same purpose, and for the use of this office, one copy of the U.S. Statutes at Large.
    Under the operation of the act of March 3rd 1857, uniting the Superintendency of Oregon and Washington Territories, the business of this office is largely increased, in view of which I propose to make some change in the policy pursued by my predecessors in relation to the disbursement of public funds; my own impression of the duties of the different agents is to exercise the general control of their agencies and disburse the funds necessary to carry on the business within their district, subject, however, to the general supervision of the Superintendent. With this view of my duties, when funds are received by me I shall place them in the hands of those agents to defray their current expenses and pay off the liabilities of their respective offices. They are upon the spot where the liabilities were incurred and ought to know the necessities as they arise; they are under bonds, and as I conceive are the proper disbursing officers of their respective districts. I shall advance them the funds and hold them accountable for their proper disbursement. I am sustained, as I conceive, in this position by the instructions contained in a letter from the Hon. Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Superintendent Palmer, bearing date April 21st 1856. If this, my view of the question, does not meet with the approbation of the Department, I think that I may be promptly advised thereof. I have communicated to Governor Stevens the fact of my appointment and requested him to fix upon some time & place where and when he would turn over the office property &c., belonging to the Washington Superintendency, but the difficulty in communicating with the Puget Sound district (where Governor Stevens resides) renders it impossible to determine when I shall receive a reply, and judging from the present amount of pressing business in this office, I apprehend that it will be some time in June before I shall be able to relieve him. It is proper that I should call your attention to some of the difficulties and disadvantages that will be presented in the union of this and Washington Territory in the same Superintendency. The range of mountains which intervene between the Columbia River and the Puget Sound country, where there are large bodies of Indians, is of such a character that it is for six months in the year impossible to hold any communication, owing to the great depth of snow that usually falls upon those mountains; this circumstance will render it impossible for the Superintendent to visit that region, except at long intervals. The great number of Indians in the two Territories, the immense region over which they are scattered, the absence of rapid facilities for traveling, as well as the uncertain disposition of the Indians themselves, will render the labor of this Superintendency onerous in the extreme; yet I hope during the present summer to be able to visit the different tribes west of the Cascade Mountains in both Territories, when I shall be able in my annual report to place all the necessary information before the Department in a reliable form.
    Premising that the Department is in possession of all the facts in relation to the numbers, condition and wants of the Indians at Puget Sound in Washington Territory, and in view of the necessity which doubtless exists and will continue to exist, to give them a partial subsistence in order to maintain peace and knowing the difficulty of communicating with that district of country for at least one-half the year, together with the risk and difficulty in transmitting funds there from this office, I would suggest that if practicable it be so arranged that funds be transmitted from the Department to that point. I understand that Mr. Garfield of Olympia has lately been appointed a depository of public moneys for that district. If I could be authorized to draw directly on him in favor of the agents for say two-thirds of the appropriation for Washington Territory, it would not only be a great saving to the government, but would obviate the great risks and delay incident to any attempt to send funds from this Territory. The remaining third of the appropriation for Washington Territory would be required in the district bordering the north side of the Columbia River, which is of easy access from here at all times. It affords me pleasure to be able to report that at present peace prevails within our Territory, all the Indians west of the Cascade Mountains being collected upon the different reservations and in part subsisted by the government, with a small military force at the different reservations sufficient to enforce obedience to the agents and keep the whites from intrusion, I see nothing at present likely to interrupt this very desirable condition of things, which I think will exist so long as the government will continue its humane policy in the partial supply of their wants. My experience, derived from fourteen years' residence in this Territory, convinces me that a continuation of the present policy of keeping the Indians collected on reservations and partially subsisting them until such time as they can be induced and become able to procure their own subsistence by agriculture, is the only way that peace can be maintained with them. Notwithstanding all that has been said in Congress about there being plenty of land in Oregon upon which the Indians can support themselves by the chase, I know of no such spot, and except the reservations there is none west of the Cascade Mountains not already preoccupied by the whites; to send them east of the Cascade Mountains would be dooming them to extermination at the hands of the Indians who own and occupy that region. Agent Miller reports a vast amount of sickness prevailing upon the Grand Ronde Reservation under his immediate charge, and that about five hundred of the Indians located there have died within this last year. This mortality is thought to result from a combination of causes, prominent among which is the change of climate which the Rogue River and other southern Indians have experienced in removing from their southern & sheltered locations. The great change of diet to which they have been subjected has doubtless had a deleterious effect upon their health. Those causes, together with the wide spread of venereal diseases which have spread rapidly among them for the last eight years, is rapidly decimating their numbers. I shall shortly direct the Rogue Rivers to be removed about forty miles further south to the Siletz River, on the Coast Reservation, which point [it] has always been intended they should occupy, is more healthy and better adapted to them every way, they having been merely placed upon the Grand Ronde for convenience in subsisting them last winter. Many of the Rogue River and other southern Indians upon the reservations still persist upon returning to their own country in the southern portion of Oregon, but I think they will gradually abandon the idea, as they see improvements progressing for their benefit. On the near locations any effort on their part to return cannot be regarded with indifference; in fact, the quiet of the whites, as well as the existence of the Indians, will induce me to use every effort to oppose any movement of the kind. Their former haunts are now entirely occupied by white settlers and persons engaged in gold digging, and all highly exasperated by the barbarous cruelties and murders inflicted upon them and their friends by these Indians during the late Indian war. Any effort on the part of the Indians to re-occupy their own country would be the signal for a bloody, relentless and exterminating war of doubtful termination. I shall therefore consider it my duty to strictly pursue the policy already inaugurated and in which much money has already been expended in retaining them upon their present localities. I believe that with the fostering care of the government and humane treatment, they can in a few years be enabled to support themselves by agricultural pursuits. Doubtless the effort will cost government a considerable outlay, as well as some years of patient perseverance, as it is pretty well conceded that it requires time to transform a savage to a state of civilization. The events of the last two years has proven to our people that the prowess of their arms was not to be despised in war, and I am glad to perceive that they have exhibited in some instances a corresponding capacity for the pursuits of peace. It is, in short, the only alternative that presents itself to the government in relation to these Indians, is "feed them or fight them." They will not starve while their white neighbors have plenty. Feeding is decidedly cheaper than fighting them, without taking into account the immense sacrifice of human life. I cannot close without again urging upon your consideration the necessity for an immediate supply of funds and also that annuities be forwarded as soon as possible. I have at present employed Mr. W. H. Barnhart as secretary, at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars per year; and James Brown as express messenger, at three dollars and fifty cents per day, exclusive of Sundays. The necessity of a regular and reliable means of communication, in the absence of mail facilities, makes an express messenger indispensable. I trust that these appointments will meet with your approval. There is already a vast amount of business to transact in this office, and it will be greatly increased when I relieve the Superintendent of Washington Territory. I have, therefore, to request instructions as to the number of clerks that I will be allowed. It is impossible for one clerk to do the business, and any attempt at economy of that kind will only be a source of embarrassment, vexation and delay. Until I am otherwise instructed, I shall exercise my best discretion on the subject and obtain such clerk service as will be absolutely necessary and indispensable. The Coast and Grand Ronde reservations have heretofore been furnished with beef and flour by private contract. Believing that these articles might be obtained at lower rates, I have directed agents Miller & Metcalfe to invite sealed proposals for that purpose. Enclosed you will see their advertisements, taken from the columns of the Oregon Statesman.
    By next steamer I hope to be able to send you the new contracts & bonds. You will perceive that payments are to be made "so soon as the necessary funds are received from the Treasury Department." I shall decline making any other terms, as I know that my predecessor was embarrassed by persons throwing up their contracts at the end of the month, when he failed to pay as stipulated in the contracts. You will, perhaps, conclude that I have continued this communication to great length; but I assure you that I could not in justice to the subject have said less, and I sincerely believe that the good of the service, as well as the peace and well-being of our citizens, will commend it to your deliberate consideration. To the Hon.
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington D.C.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 337-342.  Original on NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 519-531.




Sir:
    I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd inst., and in reply to inform you that in compliance with your request J. Ross Browne Esq., the special agent of the Department at San Francisco, has by letter dated the 4th inst. been authorized, upon the terms contained in the Department's letter to him dated the 4th of November 1856, to perform the duties in the Territories of Oregon and Washington which you state he has been requested to undertake with the approbation of the Secretary of the Interior.
    A copy of the Department's letter to Mr. Browne is herewith enclosed.
J. W. Denver. Esq.
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington City
   
Sir;
    The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, under date of the 2nd inst., informs the Department that with the approbation of the Secretary of the Interior he desires to have your services in the examination of certain interests or business of his Department in the Territories of Washington & Oregon, and I have to request [that] upon receiving instructions from him to that effect you will proceed to those Territories accordingly, and give your attention to the matters in view in the manner he may direct. Your compensation and expenses, as allowed you by this Department, will be assumed and paid by the Secretary of the Interior from the time you leave San Francisco under his orders until you return, and whilst omitting these charges in your accounts against this Department for such period, you will state in the account the reason of this omission.
J. Ross Browne Esq.
    Special Agent
        San Francisco
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1295-1297.



Col. Nesmith
    Dr. Sir
        My brother left for Salem yesterday, and C. Hand is out visiting. So I will make a statement about the flour. We have some wheat, probably 3000 bushels, and potatoes I think without end. So you and Brother can make an estimate of what we will want. I think we ought to have some spring wheat, peas & good oats for seed. Flax, if it will grow here, would be a fine thing for the Indians; many of them make nets from bark they get from weeds. I have just been over to the bay and put the diggers to work at the fish dam. I believe we will catch salmon by the houseful. I will send an Indian to Salem for the twine. Tell Brother to be sure and get enough twine.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 146.  The letter and transmittal are undated.



Sir,
    Yours of April 30th 1857 is this day received. Also the copy of account therein enclosed, with remarks by your office to the 2nd Auditor, to whom you sent it for action at that office.
    By the enclosed "Voucher No. 2 Abstract 1 First Quarter 1855" you will observe that I have appended an affidavit embracing the averments as suggested in your communication.
Hon. J. W. Denver
    Commissioner Ind. Affairs
        Washington D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 161-162.



    We, Cyrus Smith and William Casper of the County of Polk and Territory of Oregon, in consideration of the subjoined covenants, promises and agreements of John F. Miller, United States Indian agent for the Territory of Oregon, do hereby for ourselves, our heirs and legal representatives covenant and agree to and with the said Indian agent in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars to deliver to said agent or his successors in office at the slaughterhouse near the agency at Grand Ronde Reservation, thirty thousand pounds of good fresh beef per month for the term of six months, to be delivered in quantity, and all the offal thrown in, except the hides, free of charge, said beef to be delivered in such quantities as the agent in charge shall from time to time direct, at the price of seven dollars per hundred pounds. It is understood that it shall be optional with the said agent to increase or diminish the quantity of beef to be delivered under this agreement one third in each and every month by giving ten days previous notice to the contractors. The first issue of beef under this contract to be delivered on the 18th of the present month.
    In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this thirteenth day of May A.D. 1857.
   
    We, Jeremiah Lamson, D. C. Rowell and Thomas R. Blair of the County of Polk and Territory of Oregon, do hereby bind ourselves, our heirs and legal representatives as sureties for the said Cyrus Smith and William Casper for the full and faithful performance by them of all and each of the foregoing covenants, promises and agreements.
    In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this thirteenth day of May A.D. 1857.
Signed in
    presence of
        Amasa Howe
        Robert Hull
       
    I, John F. Miller, U.S. Indian agent in and for the Territory of Oregon, the above-named Cyrus Smith and William Casper complying with the foregoing covenants, promises and agreements on their part, I as such Indian agent do hereby covenant, promise and agree to and with the said Cyrus Smith and William Casper to pay them at the rate of seven dollars per hundred pounds for the beef mentioned in the above contract, the payment to be made when the necessary funds for said purpose shall be received by me from the Treasury Department.
    In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirteenth day of May A.D. 1857.
Polk County Oregon Territory May 13th 1857
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 657-661.



    From the following extracts it will be seen that the Indian troubles in Northern California, and the territories of Oregon and Washington, are not at an end.
    The Siskiyou Chronicle, speaking of the depredations in Shasta Valley, says:
    "Several persons in Shasta Valley have had horses stolen from them by white or Indian thieves, or both, and carried off into the lake country east of this place. A party of citizens followed the tracks of the stolen horses, we understand, some seventy-five or one hundred miles from this place, into the Indian country, but were unable to recover the stolen property. Their number was not strong enough to continue the pursuit. This is the beginning for this season; what the end will be, unless a fort is speedily established in the lake country, time will show."
    The last arrival from the northern coast brings the following intelligence relating to the movements of the Rogue River and Klamath tribes:
    "Considerable anxiety is felt at the mouth of the Umpqua about the Indians upon the Coast Reserve. They are quite discontented, and threaten to return to their homes upon the Klamath and Rogue rivers. Capt. Stuart is prepared, as far as possible, to intercept their southward march, and prevent their crossing the river; but it is feared that the force of sixty men under his command will not be sufficient. The Indians number at least five hundred warriors; and, according to the best accounts, one-third of them are well armed. They comprise the fiercest of the southern band."
Marysville Daily Herald, Marysville, California, May 14, 1857, page 2



Sir
    I have the honor to submit herewith five sub-vouchers for expenditures in the opening and construction of [a] wagon road from King's Valley to Siletz Valley, the latter being designated for an Indian settlement on the Coast Reservation. With these sub-vouchers is also submitted an original voucher designed to cover these five sub-vouchers numbering 1-2-3-4 & 9 and five additional sub-vouchers numbering 5-6-7-8 & 10 which later were paid me by Supt. Hedges and a voucher signed covering the amount of $499 50/100. My object in submitting these sub-vouchers is that they may be placed to my credit in the settlement of my accounts. And in explanation of these sub-vouchers I have to say that whilst acting as Supt. Ind. Affairs I had selected a location for an Indian settlement in the Siletz Valley, Coast Reservation, but at the time Mr. Hedges assumed the duties of Supt. nothing had been done beyond an examination of the tract and route through the mountains over which a road had to be opened to reach it. Mr. Hedges visited in person that valley and decided upon putting in a wheat crop and making other improvements for Indian use; he therefore entered into a written contract with myself and Ephraim Palmer to plow up and put in three hundred acres of wheat, make rails and fence the same, build a dwelling house and blacksmith shop &c. But before the work could be commenced a road had to be constructed some twenty-five miles through the mountains. Mr. Hedges advanced me five hundred dollars to be expended in the opening [of] this road. It may be proper to state that we had submitted a proposition to Mr. Hedges to open a pack trail from King's Valley to the contemplated Indian settlement for five hundred dollars, or construct a wagon road for fifteen hundred dollars. The proposition, however, was declined, but the limited amount of funds on hand induced him to favor opening a pack trail. In the meantime the Military Department had commenced the construction of a blockhouse in the Siletz Valley and were engaged in opening and constructing a wagon road to that point, and before any movements were made by the Indian Department the road was partially opened. The approach of the rainy season and the impracticability of transporting supplies, tools, materials, farming implements or seed after the commencement of the rainy season induced us to unite with the military in opening the wagon road, and in its construction the amount of $1059 75/100 was expended before we were able to reach the point with wagons. The rainy season commenced before the road was completed; we however packed on horses a few tools and supplies to commence work under the contract. In the meantime Mr. Hedges informed us that he would be unable for want of funds to pay for the work as per contract, and upon presenting the accounts for constructing the road he allowed amounts of sub-vouchers 5-6-7-8 & 10 $499.50 so as to cover the amount which he had previously advanced me, minus fifty cents which I returned him, leaving these five vouchers unpaid. Mr. Hedges having been relieved from duty as Superintendent and being anxious to close my business with the Department, I have to request that these sub-vouchers be allowed me and placed on file with my accounts.
    The duplicates of these five sub-vouchers were left in the Supt's. office at Oregon City, but no action was had on them, and to await the movements of the newly appointed Supt. who is necessarily unacquainted with the transaction and who would doubtless await specific instructions from your office before acting [which] would subject me to great delay and doubtless much unnecessary trouble.
    All of which is respectfully submitted.
Honl.
    Commissioner Ind. Affairs
        Washington City
            D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1224-1227.



Sir:
    I enclose herewith documents numbered from 1 to 6 inclusive. It is important to the public interest as also I presume it is the policy of the government to pursue a conciliatory and firm course of conduct towards the Indians. To such end the several Indian agents should act in unison with the military commanders.
    An attention to a reasonable extent to the claims of the Indian and to his wants in reference to locality & to his means of subsistence seems to be a duty in the exercise of a paternal supervision by the government over him.
    I approve of the conduct of Capt. Augur and Lieut. Sheridan as set forth by them, and with reference to their reports I hope it may be deemed proper to bring the matter to the attention of the Department of the Interior for such orders to the Superintendents and agents as may be deemed suitable.
To Lieut. Col. L. Thomas
    Asst. Adjt. Genl.
        Hd. Qrs. Army New York
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, ninth enclosure to No. 197.



Sir,
    Previous to my departure from Oregon in January last I visited the Indian encampment at the Grand Ronde Reservation, and whilst there had an interview with a large portion of the Indian chiefs located upon the Coast Reservation, among whom were many who were engaged in the recent and previous wars against the white inhabitants of the Territory, and who are still unsettled, causing greater uneasiness and doubt as to their future conduct. A portion of those Indians entertain mistaken ideas of the means of our government to prosecute a war, and believe themselves abundantly able to wipe out, as they express it, the white population. They regard the statements of our people relative to numbers and means of prosecuting a war as designed to intimidate them, and as they have often been successful in their forays against our troops, and very often go unpunished for crimes committed against our citizens, they regard us as second to themselves in the first place, and for the latter claim it as a weakness, fear or inability to chastise them. The efforts of agents and others to persuade them into pacific measures are often construed as evidence of fear and weakness, and these remarks are applicable to nearly all the tribes in Oregon and Washington Territories. The general doubt among the Indians on the Pacific coast as to the real intentions of the government towards them, and the little confidence they place in the statements of our people and those of the tribes who have occasionally visited the States with traders and trappers, with the influences at work among the tribes, places it out of the power of Indian agents to impress them favorably towards our laws and customs. I have been acquainted with a number of individual members of different tribes, of what they call the common class, who have visited some parts of the States, and who told truthfully the condition of things they saw on their journeys, but they were not credited by the tribes and were charged with being bought up by the whites. The incredulity of these Indians has undoubtedly had much to do in fostering a spirit of war and aggression, and disinclining them to yield to the overtures of the government and inducing a continuance of petty thieving, annoying to the settlers, and which has often provoked retaliation, terminating in bloody controversies between the races. One very effectual means of disabusing the minds of those tribes and convincing them of the folly of attempting to redress their own wrongs would be to select a few of the leading prominent chiefs of each tribe and making a tour to and through the Atlantic States, visiting the numerous cities and most densely settled portions of the country. The military stations, arsenals, armories, vessels of war, public schools, churches &c. &c., traveling upon railroads and steamboats, communicating by telegraph their messages, in a word, convince them of our prosperity and power.
    The treatment they would receive too would favorably contrast with that shown many of their people by the whites in their own country, and convince them that our people are not what they charge them with tyrants, to ride over and oppress them, and drive them from their homes without any adequate consideration. These chiefs would see with their own eyes, instead of getting it by representation and interpretation, and would arm them with weapons to effectually put down any spirit of resistance among these people, as well as to resist the efforts of restless lawless whites and renegade Indians and half-civilized half-breeds, who are constantly prowling about their villages to prey upon the credulity of the ignorant and superstitious natives.
    There can be no doubt in the minds of those acquainted with the condition of things on that coast, but that with an outlay of funds to carry out such a movement more would be done to suppress Indian hostilities and maintain the peaceable disposition of the Indian tribes on the Pacific than could be effected with ten times that amount expended in powder and ball to prosecute a war against them. As an illustration of the beneficial results of such a movement, I will cite one case in point. Some twelve or fourteen years since, a lad about 17 or 18 years of age whose name was Mr. Chinak [Billy Chinook], belonging to the Wascopam tribe of Indians, who resides at and about the Dalles of the Columbia River, came to the States as a servant with someone whose name is not now recollected, and finally found his way to Philadelphia; the party having him in charge turned him over to Mr. Ivins of that city, who was teacher in a Friends or Quaker school. Here the boy resided some six or eight months, making considerable proficiency in reading and writing. He finally returned with Col. Fremont, I believe in 1844. He subsequently became, and is now, the head chief of the tribe, and among all the Indian wars which have unhappily disturbed the portion of country, he has succeeded in restraining his people from uniting in a war against us. They were surrounded with powerful tribes, possessed of wealth and means of prosecuting a war, and notwithstanding rich bounties were offered for their aid, and when that failed to effect the object threats of extermination were made against him and his tribe. They resisted all overtures and even joined with the whites in the war against other tribes. For, said he, "The Indians cannot conquer the whites; for every white man that is killed ten will come. I have seen the land of the white man and know their strength. It is useless to go to war against them. They too make guns and powder as well as King George's people the English--let us be the friends of the whites, for they are many." Such I feel satisfied would be the action of all the chiefs who might come on this friendly visit. These chiefs, delegated by their people to come here and see for themselves, would carry back a truthful history of the condition of our country, and their statements would be credited by their respective tribes. The Indians in those two territories have but vague ideas of our forms of government, and yet many of them wish to pattern after us, and if they could but see the workings of the system, they would the more willingly follow in the sure road to peace and amitude, for many of the chiefs, though illiterate and superstitious, have high notions of self-respect and a great desire to promote the peace and happiness of their people. Another strong reason favoring this project is that during the absence of the chiefs we might have some guarantee of peace in that country, for they would act as hostages for the good conduct of their people during their absence. Their chiefs might come prepared to enter into some arrangement for the mutual benefit of all the tribes, and by conferring with each other, and with the head of the Indian Department here, and see the President, some general policy might be matured securing the future peace of the tribes on that coast. They have been told much about our great chiefs and the mode of enacting laws, but so conflicting are the notions entertained by them that it is all a mystery and likely to be discredited by them unless convinced by actual observation. The expenditure of twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars in gathering up and bringing here those chiefs and showing them our country and the advantages of civilization and returning them safely to their people will do more to further the humane policy of the government than four times that amount in feeding, clothing and training them in the ordinary way. Great good may be accomplished by visiting our schools and seminaries of learning, as it will give them an idea of the process of training up our young and incline them to contribute largely to the support of schools for the education of their children. Quite a number have expressed a desire to have their children brought to the States and educated, and I am fully convinced that the most effectual means of civilizing and enlightening those Indians would be to establish manual labor schools this side of the mountains, where the children could be taken at from 4 to 10 years of age, fed, clothed and educated in all the branches that constitute a civilized and enlightened community, separating them entirely from the contaminating influences sure to surround them if allowed to remain among their people. Let them be kept away until habits are formed or until their numbers and experience would be able to exert a controlling influence over the tribes. Schools established in that country would be surrounded by influences sure to counteract all efforts at a wholesome moral education, for the majority of the adults in many of the tribes are so contaminated as to be past moral reformation. Vice, immorality and loathsome disease are sure to follow the train of their children unless separated from their parents. The tribes will be willing to contribute from their annuities a considerable sum in support of such a school. Philanthropists would aid in its accomplishment, and Congress, having the especial guardianship of those unfortunate aborigines, would make liberal appropriations to consummate so noble a work, and the good likely to follow from the favorable result of the chiefs' mission as indicated in furthering this school would alone, in my opinion, justify the outlay in bringing them here, for whilst we may not effectually civilize the present adults (though with judicious and kind treatment we may better their condition materially) we might hope to effect a permanent good to the rising generation. It is in my opinion the only hope for those Pacific tribes, and without the adoption of some similar system they are doomed to pass soon out of existence.
    In accordance with your request I herewith submit an estimate of the probable cost of collecting, clothing and transporting here and back to their country this delegation of Indians with agents and interpreters &c. &c. This estimate, of course, can only be regarded as approximating to accuracy, for it would be difficult to determine now the exact number of Indians to be transported.
    Great care should be taken to have leading prominent men, such as would correctly represent the will and sentiments of the tribes, and who would exert a proper influence among them after returning. Councils would necessarily have to be held in different parts of that Superintendency, for it cannot be expected that such a delegation could be collected without a full and fair consultation among the different tribes, for the benefits to be derived will depend very much upon the spirit and manner of making the selection of delegates, and the degree of confidence and importance attached to the mission by the various tribes. The probability is that nearly the entire summer season would be consumed in the preliminaries, but immediate action should be had so as to attract the attention of the tribes, for by having something of this kind in anticipation they might be diverted from the war path, and this season is an important one in the history of our Indian relations on that coast. In those councils measures might be adopted reconciling to a great degree the differences now existing between the whites and Indians, which would tend to promote peace and save us from the horrors of another Indian war.
    The application of a part of the appropriation for restoring and maintaining the peaceable disposition of the Indian tribes on the Pacific or that of preventing outbreaks could undoubtedly be more advantageously expended in bringing this delegation to the States than in any other way. Without the adoption of this plan, or some similar one very large, an increasing amount must be expended annually in maintaining military posts and suppressing Indian hostilities induced very much by a mistaken conception of their power to rid themselves of the presence of whites. It is not expected, however, that this would supersede the necessity of maintaining military posts, but it would doubtless be equivalent to one-half the number and effectually put a stop to this constant warfare, requiring the expenditure of large sums of money in preparing equipments for field operations in the interior of the country, and save the lives of our citizens.
    The estimate submitted contemplates collecting and transporting the Indians by steamer by way of the Isthmus of Panama and return the same way, but in the event they could be supplied with transportation from the military stations in that country to take the overland route the expense would be materially lessened. Very many of the chiefs would furnish their own horses, but the pack animals, saddles, subsistence &c. would have to be furnished by the government. After making the trip across the plains the animals could be retained until spring for the homeward trip. In the event of being compelled to purchase the animals, equipments &c., they could be sold after returning and the amount received credited to the government. Many of the chiefs would doubtless prefer coming by land, and in the event of so doing the interior tribes might be visited and induced to send delegations that would not, if required to make the trip by water. I may add that quite a number of the chiefs greatly desired to accompany me on my present visit to the States. It would doubtless be better for a portion of them to come by water and a portion by land--which by uniting again here would give them more general understanding of our country than they could have if all came [by] the same route. If this mode of travel should be adopted, it will be necessary to appoint two special agents, one in charge of either party until a junction could be formed east of the mountains, and the overland party might require a small escort between some of the military stations. Should they start in season to accompany the 4th Infantry, or any foot troop, it might have a beneficial effect on following immediately after would be secured from attacks of other tribes east of the mountains.
    It is believed that the sum of $12,000 would equip and bring to the Atlantic States a delegation sufficiently large to fairly represent the Indians of these two Territories. The payment of agents, subsistence and traveling expenses of the delegation while here, and the expense of returning, might be provided for in future.
    With these remarks I submit the matter to your consideration, fully convinced that the future peace of our country on that coast, the economy of the government, the welfare of the Indian tribes, as well as our citizens, would be greatly promoted by carrying into effect the suggestions herein contained.
Hon. J. W. Denver
    Comr. Ind. Affrs.
        Washington D.C.
   
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1230-1246.



Sir
    A dispatch received at this office yesterday "by siwash express" from R. B. Metcalfe, Indian agent at the Siletz agency, dated on the 15th ult., informs me that much dissatisfaction among the Indians under his charge at present exists.
    He says, "I look for at least one half of the Indians here to leave within the next ten (10) days. They all intend leaving within two (2) months. Their success or failure in reaching their former homes will depend on the movements of the military force at Umpqua &c. &c."
    Regarding the military force at this point I have to say--
    There is about forty (40) effective men now at this post. All that can be done with such a meager force will be done. We cannot look for a volunteer force to be raised on the coast; they are not here. Except a few families residing a long distance from each other, the entire coast south of this office is deserted. The mines on Sixes River & on Rogue River contain all the inhabitants.
    The necessity of a strong military command at this place is therefore quite apparent, and in the event the Indians above should attempt to abandon the reserve & flee to their former homes, at this point they must be detained if at all.
    I opine that a communication to the Department from your office setting forth the position of affairs would have the desired effect & bring to our aid two full companies. With three companies at this point it would be almost impossible for the Indians to escape.
Gen. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        Salem
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 127.



Sir,
    Since the removal of the larger portion of the Rogue River Indians to the Siletz, I thought that it might be expedient to dispense with one of the schools at the Grand Ronde and transfer it to the Siletz. I desire to have your views on the subject, and that you will consult with Mr. Ostrander in order to ascertain whether he would be willing to go to the Siletz. I have consulted Mr. Metcalfe on the subject; he informs me that he will have a school house ready by the 20th of June. If Mr. Ostrander desires to go to the Siletz he can report to Mr. Metcalfe by that time or defer it until I return from Olympia, which will probably be about the 25th of June.
To
    John F. Miller Esq.
        Grand Ronde Reservation
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 351.



Dear Sir
    I hope you will pardon me for troubling you in a matter in which I am in no wise interested except as a well-wisher to the party in interest.
    During the administration of one of your "illustrious predecessors," Gen. P., James P. Day was appointed to some post out here like an agency. Like most other men, no doubt he was quite willing to accept any official position which would pay although not quite entitled to it by fair party usage. But he did in good faith I doubt not discharge to the best of his ability the duties of his post. In doing so he must have spent much time and some money. Aside from every other consideration, perhaps, even-handed justice would entitle him to some compensation. In that ground alone I should not have troubled myself, but the man is unfortunate, and all that I have to say is on the ground of humanity, presuming that there is justice in the claim. His physician and friends inform me that without some remedy soon he cannot survive the summer. As a last remedy he is anxious to go further south, but is without the means, nor has he friends sufficiently able to help him. Can you not by adjusting his claim upon your Department help him? I suppose of course that you have all the necessary documents and vouchers.
    Thus much I have said at the urgent solicitation of Mr. Day's friends. You will hear from others upon this subject and perhaps more in detail.
Hon.
    J. W. Nesmith
        Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 126.



Dear Sir
    I regret to learn that it is your intention to move Old Sam & his people over to the Siletz, and most respectfully and urgently request that you will permit him and his people to remain where they now are if consistent with your duty. I hope I have been misinformed in regard to your intentions & would like to see & talk with you on the subject before you give the order to move. I will come up to Salem if I can ascertain the truth of the reports.
____ Nesmith
    Supt. of Indian Affairs
        Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 123.



INFORMATION WANTED--Of MRS. ANN IRVIN, who left the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, O.T., for San Francisco, June, 1857. Should this meet her eye, or anyone that would be so kind as to inform her that she will hear of something to her advantage by applying to HERMON WHITE, Monmouth, Polk County.
Sacramento Daily Union, September 1, 1858, page 1



Sir,
    We, Nat H. Lane and Relf Bledsoe, citizens of Benton County, Oregon Territory, trading under the name and firm of Lane & Bledsoe, herewith make application for license to trade with the confederated tribes of Indians located in the Siletz Indian Agency, district [of] Coast Indian Reservation, O.T., at the agency on Siletz River, and some point on the Yaquina Bay--the amount of capital to be employed at the agency ten thousand dollars, at the bay five thousand dollars--the person to be employed in our service is Alexander J. McEwan as clerk, with whom you are personally acquainted.
To
    R. B. Metcalfe Esq.
        Indian Agent
            Siletz Agency O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 30; Miscellaneous Loose Papers 1850-1873.



Hon. [James] W. Denver
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs
        Washington D.C.
Sir,
    The law of Congress joining the Territories of Oregon & Washington in one Superintendency has gone into effect this day, by my turning in the office and records in to Col. J. W. Nesmith, the joint Superintendent, as directed in the instructions of the Department.
    In thus terminating my official duties as Superintendent of Indian Affairs of this Territory, I desire to place on the records of the Department my judgment that the new Superintendency is too large for one officer and that at the earliest practicable period the two Territories should be divided into separate superintendencies. Indeed, I am of opinion that the public service would be promoted by dividing the present joint Superintendency into three separate superintendencies. The whole country east of the Cascades and thence to the Rocky Mts. forming one Superintendency--Oregon west of the Cascades another and Washington west of the Cascades the third. Each of these districts would in my judgment furnish ample employment for a Superintendent of Indian Affairs.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1394-1396.



The Hon.
    The Acting Commissioner of Indian Affrs.
Sir
    I wish to take an appeal from the decision of the late Commissioner Col. Manypenny in relation to pay for my traveling expenses in returning from Oregon in 1853, and also for fourteen days salary.
    You will remember that in June 1850 I was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon and commissioned for four years, and that in March 1853 I was removed from office on the coming in of President Pierce, notwithstanding I had some months previous offered to resign my office to take effect on the first of July following. This you will see was entirely disregarded in my removal.
    It was with the promise and full understanding when I accepted this office that my traveling expenses should be paid by the govt. I think it was then the custom of the Indian office to pay such expenses. Beverly S. Allen of Tenn., an Indian treaty commissioner, was sent to Oregon about the same time I was; his traveling expenses were paid both ways.
    The small claim for fourteen days salary is suspended I understand for the reason that I was not in the office in Oregon myself during these fourteen days. I was in possession of the office and the public property and responsible to the govt. for it until my successor was qualified and took possession. My clerk was there in charge of the books & papers, and I employed a very responsible man (Capt. Whitcomb) to take care of the property and turn it over to my successor as soon as he was sworn into office.
    I did not leave the country until my successor was in office and I had a receipt for all of the govt. property that I had been responsible for.
The Hon.
    Chas. E. Mix
        Acting Commissioner
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 195-197.



J. W. Nesmith Esq.
    Superintendent of Ind. Affairs.
        Salem O.T.
            Sir
                By [illegible] Columbia [illegible] Indians [illegible] to Vancouver to be forwarded to the reservation or called for by the Indian Department today are of the "Charles Singleton" band of the "Pistol Rivers." They were taken near this place 27th May on their way to their old homes, having escaped from the reservation. Not wishing them to go further, Peter Ruffner and myself took charge of them; have kept them under guard, and provided for their wants.
    We hope that our transactions in this matter will meet your approbation. We forward herewith accounts of expenses, which you can examine and if correct forward amt. to us as per vouchers.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 135.



Col. J. W. Nesmith, Superintendent &c.
    Dear Sir
        Enclosed you will find a spoliation claim against the Rogue River Indians in favor of Granville Naylor. The act requires that sufficient proof shall be made to the Superintendent, agent &c., and I am not aware whether it is required by the Department that the clerk of the district court should testify that the justice before whom the depositions were taken is an active justice of the peace &c. If it is necessary from any law on the subject or by the practice of the Indian Department, I will have such certificate appended upon your returning the enclosed depositions.
Col. Nesmith
    Salem
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 137.



    RUMORED INDIAN OUTBREAK.--One of the officers of the steamer Sea Bird, which arrived here yesterday, informs us that it was reported at Port Orford, just before the boat left, that no less than eight hundred Cayuse and Rogue River Indians had decamped from the Reservation, some seventy miles from that place, and were on their way down towards Port Orford, having heard of the removal of the troops from that section of the country.
Daily Alta California, San Francisco, June 10, 1857, page 2







Supt. of Ind. Affairs O.T.
    Sir, Sometime in March '54 I had an ox shot and wounded very badly by one of the Rogue River Indians. I applied to Mr. Culver, then agent for said Indians, who upon examining the ox said that as the wounds were so bad that it was impossible for him to get well, and as he was in want of some beef for the use of said Indians, he would take him and account for him as such.
    I wrote to Mr. Hedges about the matter last spring. He answered me that he found the a/c rendered in the quarterly returns of the summer of '54 as beef but could not settle the same for the want of funds. You will confer a favor by attending to the matter for me, as the a/c is just and should be settled. The amount is $125.00.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 170.



Sir
    Herewith I transmit to your office an application of W. H. Packwood for damages sustained by him in the late Indian war with testimony regarding the same.
    The papers have been delayed at this office some weeks in order to make the inquiries requisite to base an opinion upon.
    All the information obtained from the white settlers and Indians on the Coquille River confirm the testimony contained in the enclosed papers. The evidence is entirely of a circumstantial nature and evidently must ever be.
    That the house was fired by the Indians I have no doubt, and I am of the opinion that the claim is a just one in every particular.
Hon. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        Salem
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 139.




Sir
    I have the honor to transmit herewith the following named bonds for the delivery of flour and beef for the subsistence of the Indians, viz., bond of Henry Fuller for the delivery of thirty thousand pounds of good beef per month for the term of three months @ 7¢/lb.; bond of Johnson Mulkey and Heyman Lewis for the delivery of thirty thousand pounds of good beef per month for the term of three months @ 7¢ per pound; bond of John H. Lewis for the delivery of seven tons of good merchantable flour per month for six months at 6⅓ cents per pound, and bond of Henry Fuller for the delivery of thirty tons of good flour per month for the term of six months at 8⅞ cents per pound, all of which are submitted for your approval.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affrs.
            Washington D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 553-554.




Col. Nesmith
    Dear Sir
        "Once more unto the breach dear friends." I send another spoliation claim, hoping that it may be in proper form and sufficiently authenticated to meet with your approbation.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 153.



Sir
    Your communication of the 14 ult. was received by the last mail. With reference to the amounts suspended or disallowed, except the two items for office rent, I will only say that though I believe the whole amount of the accounts are justly due to me, yet the amounts are so small in the aggregate that it is scarcely worthwhile for me to put myself for the Department to any more trouble about them. And in relation to the two items for office rent I am not aware that I can now do anything calculated to induce the Department to change the decision already made, except to forward the enclosed affidavits of Messrs. Colver, Dean & Thompson, which were accidentally omitted when I presented my explanations & evidence to Superintendent Palmer in June last.
    The account of N. C. Dean for $77.50 and of John E. Ross for $35 I will attend to as soon as I can communicate with them. They both reside in Rogue River Valley.
Hon. J. W. Denver
    Comr. &c.
   
Hon. Joel Palmer
    Sir, having examined the correspondence of Anson Dart, Com. of Indian Affairs, with the Hon. Luke Lea dated Nov. 1852--also the letter of George W. Manypenny to Joel Palmer of Oct. 29th 1855 and Joel Palmer's letter to A. A. Skinner dated Feb. 18th 1856 relative to the reasonableness of the accounts of A. A. Skinner as charged by him against government for incidental expenses while acting as Indian agent in Southern Oregon during the years fifty-one, two and three, together with the accounts of A. A. Skinner during the above-mentioned years, and after duly considering the same and referring to my business transactions during the same years in this county (which was packing, trading in provisions and groceries and farming in company with T. Thompson) I feel satisfied that the charges in the accounts of A. A. Skinner as above referred to are not only reasonable but in many items below the current prices of those years.
    I find the following to be the price current for '52--flour from 15 to 25 cts. per lb. Beef from 20 to 25 cents per lb. (sugar 35 to 50, coffee 50 to 60 cts) from fifty-one to fifty-three price variable, from the above quotations still higher. Flour sold in January & February at Jacksonville for from 75 cts. to $1.25 per lb. At the same time salt was from one to four dollars per lb. Meals have always been one dollar at public houses except when higher as in fifty 2 & 3 when they were one dollar without bread and dollar and fifty cents with it. The above is the price current for Jackson County in those years; no doubt but they appear high to persons living at the head of steam navigation on the great rivers in the States, but to those who live in the mines of Southern Oregon at the head of mule navigation they appear reasonable enough.
    And as to gov. policy of conciliating Indians, in our first intercourse with them, in the absence of a military force sufficient for defense sensible men can entertain but one opinion, and even the expensive policy of feeding compares quite favorably with the fighting policy as now adopted, as will be seen by reference to the expenditures of the present war.
Hon. Joel Palmer
    N.B. One item mentioned in A. A. Skinner's accounts was office rent from $50 to one hundred dollars per month [which] was the rates of good houses rents.
   
    Personally appeared before me Samuel Colver and made solemn oath that the foregoing statement contained in a communication to Joel Palmer Indian agent are true to his knowledge.
Subscribed and sworn to
before me this the 19th of April 1856
   
    Nathaniel Dean and Thomas Thompson being duly sworn say that the statements made by Hiram [sic] Colver to the Indian agent Joel Palmer are true to their knowledge.
Subscribed and sworn to before
me this the 19th of April 1856
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1262-1265.  Note that the statement above is from Samuel Colver, not from Indian agent Samuel H. Culver.



    The reports from the Umpqua Reservation are confirmatory of the news which we published some days since, to the effect that the Rogue River Indians had broken away from the reservation, and were on their way back to their old homes. But a few weeks will probably elapse ere we shall be again called upon to chronicle a series of massacres that they will have committed upon the white settlers, residing in or near their line of travel back to the Rogue River; and then will be enacted, over again, the horrors of Indian warfare with the handful of troops that are stationed in that section.
    The first point that will be exposed to their bloodthirsty fury is the settlement near the mouth of the Umpqua; the next is that at Coos Bay, which point, though destined to become of great importance upon this coast, will be sadly retarded in its progress, and its inhabitants, it is to be feared, will be massacred--families destroyed, and the place be reduced to its original desolate solitude. Passing on, downward, toward Port Orford, are many scattered white settlers, who, if they have not already sought safety in the blockhouse at Port Orford, it is probable will fall victims to these ruthless barbarians.
    The newly discovered mining locality on the Sixes River is also near their line of march, and it is to be feared that it will be broken up by them, and the miners driven into the wilds of the mountains, to exist as best they may until they can reach some point of safety. Port Orford is in a helpless condition against this large body of Indians, the government troops having been nearly all withdrawn from that point, since the removal of the Indians to the reservation. Between this point and Rogue River are many settlers, and miners engaged in beach and river mining, all of whom will be exposed to their ravages.
    Here, then, we hare a line of coast, of some two hundred miles, to be laid waste by these wild tribes, and its settlements, already well begun, retarded for years by this misfortune.
    Were everyone well acquainted with the locality, there would be no need for us to attempt to portray the great importance of immediate government aid to suppress this outbreak, and if actually necessary, to exterminate these savages to enable the country to be permanently settled. So far as the rivers have been prospected, it has been conclusively shown that, throughout that entire belt of country, there is a field for placer mining, nearly if not fully equal to that which existed in our own state eight years ago. The beach, too, from Rogue River to the Umpqua is glittering with sands, golden, in truth, that only call for the exercise of Yankee inventive powers, to bring forth some kind of machinery, to enable them to be worked successfully.
    We speak of this section of the country from a personal knowledge of its resources, having traveled over a greater portion of it, upon more than one occasion, and observed it carefully. Its agricultural resources are unsurpassed, and its magnificent forests have long ago been fully described in the public prints. Yet, for years, this section of our Pacific possessions has been overrun by these wild tribes, and government has doled out her aid with a stingy hand, to keep them in subjection About one year ago, the Rogue River tribe was removed to the Umpqua Reservation, and, relying upon their good faith, our government vainly believed that they would reside there peaceably, without compulsion being used to keep them within their prescribed limits. True to the character which they have always borne, however, of being a treacherous and unreliable tribe, they have seized the first opportunity to violate their pledges, and are probably now engaged in their work of destruction.
    There is a sentiment which might interpose between the advocacy of their actual extermination, viz: that of the commonest humanity, which acknowledges to exist in them the original ownership and right to the soil, and the cruel injustice of taking them from it. The past history of our country, from the rocky shores of Maine to our own Pacific Coast, practically repudiates this theory and metes out a stern dispensation for these sons of the forest. Oil and water are not more antagonistic to each other than are the Indian and white man, when the march of Christian civilization attempts the work of social affiliation. The only system that human ingenuity can devise for the humane treatment of these wild men of the woods is that which has been adopted by our government of setting apart localities for them; but it is the weak manner in which the system has been carried out here, which is the cause of all these bloody massacres and Indian difficulties of every kind. The vanguard of civilization is usually made up of honest and industrious frontiersmcn, who, with their wives and little ones, tramp down the wilderness and drive its wild denizens from the face of the land, to make room for the refinements and luxuries of society which are to come after them. Theirs is a life of continual hardship, danger and toil. They live not for themselves, but for the welfare of future generations. Why, then, are these noble pioneers so sadly neglected by those whose duty it is to care for and protect them? The cry of "humanity to the Indian" is echoed back by the dying shrieks of the tomahawked mother and her helpless little ones, and however much the hard lot of the Indian may be bewailed, who will say that the supplications of our own fellow countrymen do not far outweigh this false sentiment?
    If there is one duty which our Senators and Representatives owe to the people of this coast, it is to claim the immediate action of the government in putting a final end to these Indian depredations. One or the other must succumb; the country must be opened up to civilization, or left entirely to the occupation of thew restless savages--a wilderness rich in all that can pertain to man's comfort and happiness, overrun by hordes of unrelenting barbarians.
    Prompt and decided action is demanded to drive them back to the reservation which has been set apart for them, at the point of the bayonet, if necessary. The whistle of the rifle bullet is the only mandate that they will obey, and they should be taught this time to keep within their prescribed limits, or pay the forfeit by their final extermination.
Daily Alta California, San Francisco, June 24, 1857, page 2



    INDIAN MATTERS AT UMPQUA.--By a late arrival from Umpqua, O.T., it appears that apprehensions were entertained there of an Indian outbreak. The Rogue River Indians, headed by their chief "John," had left their new reservation and were returning to their old hunting grounds. The garrison at Umpqua, numbering only twenty-five soldiers, was too weak to hinder the Indian march, or perhaps to preserve itself.
San Joaquin Republican, Stockton, California, June 24, 1857, page 2



Sir
    Your letter of the 11th inst. "enclosing a spoliation claim against the Rogue River Indians" reached me this morning.
    In your communication you do not indicate what you desire me to do with the papers, but I presume that you wished them forwarded to the Department at Washington.
    By reference to the 17th section of the act of June 30th 1834 you will observe that spoliation claims must first be submitted to the tribes for satisfaction. No such claims have ever been submitted to the Rogue River Indians for the reason that their annuities would not pay ten cents on the dollar of such claims. There are already claims presented on this office for vast amounts of property destroyed by those Indians, and I know of no remedy for the claimants except an act of Congress for their relief, as it would certainly be sought in vain at the Indian Department. Several claims having been forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by my predecessor, late Commissioner Manypenny wrote a letter in reply of which the enclosed is an extract.
    I am of opinion that the application of Mr. Conley is too indefinite, as it mostly states that his property was taken by the "Rogue River Indians" without specifying the band or tribe to which they belong. I will retain the papers here subject to your order and make such disposition of them as you may hereafter desire.
To
    J. H. Reed Esq.
        Jacksonville
            O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 363.



    INDIANS HOSTILE.--The late news from Umpqua, Oregon Territory, is that there is danger of an Indian outbreak. The Rogue River Indians had been led off by their chief John, from the reservation, and were going back to their old hunting grounds. The garrison at Umpqua, consisting of only twenty-five men, was too weak to prevent it.
Oroville Daily Butte Record, Oroville, California, June 26, 1857, page 2



    A small party of Indian women passed down the coast a few days since, creating no little excitement in the minds of the few whites now residing along that vicinity. Advices have been received from the Indian Reserve, stating that nearly all the Indians from Southern Oregon had left their station on the reserve, and that settlers occupying the former locality of these Indians must be on their guard. These are the same Indians that Col. Buchanan so thoroughly conquered (?) last year without a single engagement on his part, and with one exception some little skirmishes by small detachments of U.S. troops, under the command of other officers of subordinate rank, while the Col. claimed all the honor that by rights belonged to the Oregon mounted volunteers and a few of the regulars--especially those under command of Capt. Smith, who came near sacrificing his own life, with that of his whole command, at the Big Bend on Rogue River, during the late war. But by the assistance of another company of U.S. troops, the ropes which the Indians had suspended on the trees in the vicinity of the engagement were finally used as halters for horses instead of Capt. Smith and his command. What the result will be of the Indians returning to their former homes is hard to predict, but judging from the popular feelings of the citizens, we cannot guarantee to that unfortunate race a permanent safety. Still, should the Indians return peaceable and avoid all acts of a belligerent character, and no ways at all molest the whites in their various avocations, they may be permitted to drag out a miserable existence, until government makes provisions for them.
"Frank," "The Port Orford Mines," San Francisco Bulletin, June 27, 1857, page 2



Sir:
    I respectfully report that the Indians at this encampment have been more free from diseases during the last three months than for any period since I have been in attendance on them. The marked improvement is evidently owing to the season of the year, which favors their living almost entirely in the open air and [which] at the same time enables them to procure an abundance of berries, fresh fish and some vegetables. In fact, a favorable change is noticeable whenever the weather permits them to leave for a short time their damp and badly ventilated lodges.
    Their diseases mostly belong to the class resulting from bad diet and impure air, and their improvement since the dry weather has set in clearly suggests some of the causes of sickness and points out what is needed to ensure them more uniform good health, viz., a vegetable admixture in their diet and dry and ventilated houses. Their present lodges are cellars, roofed over. They [are] damp and favor an accumulation of filth sufficient to engender disease in the most salubrious locality. From time to time they [are] destroyed or removed, as they become uninhabitable from collections of pestilential filth. Frequently several of the inmates die in succession in the same lodge within a short period after it has been located awhile. The mortality is attributed to a superstitious cause, and the lodge is removed again to collect noxious matters and produce disease. During the rainy season these underground lodges are more unhealthy than tents would be for the reason that water seeps into them, producing dampness and moldiness, which are not removed by evaporation as they occasionally would be in tents. Moreover, the structure of these lodges is such that ventilation is impossible. The fires are built four or five feet below ground on the floor, and the smoke is conveyed off by a narrow aperture in the roof, but there being no draft, sufficient remains to render them unhealthy on this account alone. As a sanitary measure I earnestly recommend that even though the present kind of lodges be used in future, that chimneys be built to them. This would ensure ventilation and freedom from smoke at least. But to afford these people a full chance of recovering from their present unhealthy condition they should have lodges above ground and if added to this measure they be supplied with potatoes as part of their diet the happiest results would no doubt be realized. Otherwise their mode of living in this locality is healthy and congenial to them.
    The diseases treated since last quarter were chiefly the milder forms of scrofulous complaints, rheumatism, dysentery, bronchitis and ophthalmia.
    There were two deaths, one of a man from consumption of the lungs, the other a child from consumption of the bowels.
E. P. Drew
    Sub-Indian Agent
        Umpqua Agency
            Oregon Ter.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 638-641.




Sir
    In compliance with "general order" issued from your office May 19, 1857, I have the honor to report that in November A. D. 1854 I was assigned to duty in this (Umpqua) district, bounded as follows (viz): The coast from the mouth of the Coquille River northward so far as to include the Siuslaw band of Indians, thence eastward to the summit of the Coast Range of mountains, thence southward so as to include all the bands of Indians below Umpqua Valley proper, thence to the headwaters of the Coquille River, thence to the coast (the place of beginning) so as to include all the bands of Indians residing along the waters of the Coquille. In the month of September following I was officially informed that "Hereafter the Coquille Indians would be attached to the Port Orford District and placed under the charge of Spec. Agt. Wright, that this (Umpqua) district would be extended northward"--how far I have not yet been informed.
    The Indians immediately under my charge at present are all of the a tribe, divided into several bands (viz): the Siuslaw and Alsea bands located on the Siuslaw River, numbering about two hundred and forty (240), the Scottsburg, Lower Umpqua and Coos Bay bands, located on the Umpqua River near this agency, numbering about four hundred and fifty, making an aggregate of six hundred and ninety (690).
    They are at present and have been, so far as my knowledge extends, friendly towards the whites. Many of them manifest a disposition and desire to cultivate the soil. Those located on the Siuslaw River have several acres of potatoes and some other vegetables now under cultivation. With slight encouragement from the general government I opine that they would all apply themselves quite readily to agricultural pursuits, yet they would rely for subsistence to a great extent upon fish, an abundant supply of which is easily obtained from the waters of Siuslaw, Umpqua and Smith rivers.
    No buildings have yet been erected for them. They now reside in low cabins which they have constructed of lumber furnished them in part by the Department. It will be absolutely necessary to erect a few houses for them before the rainy season, and a small supply of clothing and blankets would be very desirable.
    For a few months a school was in operation, but from the uncertainty of receiving funds applicable to that purpose (it having been established without special order), it was deemed expedient to suspend the same for the present. During the few months it was operating there was a constant average attendance of from forty-five to fifty scholars. They all seemed anxious to improve and did so, much more rapidly than could have been anticipated under the circumstances. Should the school again be established, much good would result from it.
    No treaty having yet been ratified with this tribe (to my knowledge), I would most respectfully suggest that immediate steps be taken (if possible) to locate them permanently, and I know of no country so well adapted to their wants and desires as the country south of Cape Perpetua, extending southward so far as to include the extensive fisheries on the Siuslaw, Umpqua and Smith rivers. The country between Umpqua and Siuslaw is generally level and slightly timbered and would offer sufficient agricultural lands, while the lakes, of which there are several, abound in fish and wildfowl in the fall and winter months, and the surrounding mountains furnish an abundance of elk, deer, bear and other small game.
    Should the southern boundary of the reserve, as originally designed, be brought south some eight (8) miles, making Umpqua and Smith rivers the southern boundary, the object desired is obtained and sufficient country is embraced for those Indians who have ever been friendly towards the whites (south of Cape Perpetua), separated by said cape from those Indians who have from time to time become hostile.
    After they shall have been thus located, and the general government have rendered them proper assistance towards engaging in agricultural pursuits &c. &c., they will be enabled to a great extent to provide for themselves. Until this shall be accomplished they must have aid from the general government, or be permitted to return to their former homes and pursue their original mode of life--hunting the forest for game and following the rivers to their source in the summer months for fish and returning to the coast again during the winter.
    Appended to this you will please find an estimate of funds necessary for the next fiscal year, as required by your order.
To
    Gen. J. W. Nesmith
        Supt. Ind. Affrs.
            Salem
                O.T.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 790-793.




Mr. Nesmith Sir this Indian Tots left a lot of ictas ["things"] at his old home when he moved to the reservation, so he tells and wanted me to write to you and have you see to it, also a lot of rails that he wants pay for that have been used by Mr. Marquam, [and] one cart of 5 elk skins that Mr. Palmer promised to see to. He wishes you to write to Mr. Marquam concerning this matter and have it settled.
Also--John Albright took one mare and colt of theirs and [the] mare died in his charge last winter and they want pay for her. He refuses to pay them. He gave them the colt.
July 16th Mr. Marquam called at this office and says that the rails that "Totie" claims were made on his claim by the Indians and under an arrangement made by Mr. Geary about three years ago, and that he, Marquam, was to have all the improvements when the Indians left to go to the reservation. The colt he says belongs to "Bob Mantner" and still stands on the place. He further says that he has never taken any of the Indians' property.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 155.



J. W. Nesmith Supt. of Ind. Affairs
Sir    In Oct. 1855 I had made out a spoliation claim by I. N. Smith, notary public, against the Rogue River Indians for $3678.75 and took to Superintendent Hedges & he told me he would send it to Washington for further instructions.
    Since then I have not heard from it, until in May last my brother in the States went to Washington to attend to it for me. I first got a letter saying there is no claim there on file of mine, but thinks it has been returned to you for approval. Do me the favor of giving me the information if any you have. Also there is a spoliation claim in Y. A. Smith's hands in favor of George E. Cole, which is in the same situation made out by Grover of Salem and sent [by?] my brother for collection in duplicate as the original was sent to Superintendent of Washington Territory. Please inform me about this also. Further, please inform me as I have the duplicates if any action can be had if the originals cannot be found. Write me at your earliest convenience and oblige yours.
J. W. Nesmith
    Dalles
N.B. Kindly remember me to Mrs. Nes, as I have not forgotten her kind hospitality.
Answer Jacksonville, Oregon.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 187.



Sir
    By last mail I received your favor of the 16th ult.
    I was somewhat surprised to learn that Agent Metcalfe had not communicated with your office regarding the anticipated "stampede" of the Indians under his charge.
    My brother (J. W. Drew) will hand you this, also a few of the letters received from Metcalfe & Abbott regarding the Indians under their charge. I do this from the fact that my official communication of May last was based upon & inflated with extracts from the accompanying letters.
    I wish the letters to be returned to this office & have directed my brother so to do.
To
    Gen. J. W. Nesmith
        Supt. Ind. Affrs.
            Salem
                O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 160.



Mr. J. W. Nesmith
    Dr Sir
        I have spent about one month's time and some money in looking for a few of the Umpqua Indians yet out.
    John F. Miller spoke to me in Roseburg and wished me to go with an Indian that was sent from the reserve to protect him and try to get those that were out, but we did not succeed in finding them. My object in writing you is that me being only verbally authorized by Miller to have you attend to having me paid for the trouble I have been at, and in case that you hereafter require anyone to attend to any business out this way that you may know where I am and who I am.
P.S. There are a small band of Indians, say forty, on the headwaters of the North Umpqua calling themselves Molallas that have not been treated with yet. Today ten of the Umpquas still out.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 161.



Sir,
    I beg to call your attention to a letter addressed to this Deptmt. by the Secretary of War, enclosing the report of Genl. Clarke and certain correspondence relating to the agency at Siletz, all of which are herewith transmitted. You will please investigate the matter and report as early as practicable your views in relation to it. It will be observed that the papers enclosed are original documents, the return of which is requested by the War Department.
Jas. W. Denver Esq.
    Commr. Indian Affairs
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 383-384.



Sir
    I herewith transmit copies of certain letters for General Clarke, Captain Augur and Lieutenant Sheridan of the Army, with an endorsement made thereupon by the Commander in Chief, relative to alleged impropriety of conduct on the part of Agent Metcalfe in regard to his treatment of the Indians at Siletz, in March last. You will inquire into the matter and report to this office as early as practicable the result of the examination, together with anything that may have occurred deemed by you pertinent to the subject.
James W. Nesmith Esq.
    Superintendent
        Salem
            Oregon T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 197.   See enclosures to this letter, above. (Search "197.")



Sir
    In obedience to the requirements of the Indian Department, I submit the following as my first annual report of the condition of the Indians at this agency.
    I took charge of this agency on the 25th of November 1856 and found the number of Indians on the reservation to be 1895, according to the last census taken by my predecessor, a copy of which I forward with this report (marked "A").
    On reference to this census list it will be seen that they are divided into a great many tribes and bands, differing widely from each other in their habits, manners and customs.
    The confederated tribes of the Rogue River and Shasta Indians, temporarily located on this reservation, were at that time by far the most numerous, numbering in all 909 persons. They are a warlike race, proud and haughty, but treacherous and very degraded in their moral nature, and the diseases which they have contracted from the whites, with whom they have had more or less intercourse for some years past, have contaminated the greater portion of them, and even the children are many of them suffering from the vices of their parents.
    The large number of sick, from this and other causes, formed one of the greatest difficulties I have had to encounter. Nearly every case of sickness among them being attributed to some ill-disposed person who sought their death and who, they believe, has ample power to destroy their victim, either instantly or by a lingering disease; indeed, so thoroughly are they imbued with this belief that, upon the death of any of their number, the relatives of the deceased will immediately wreak vengeance upon some "doctor," either of their own or another tribe, against whom they have an ill will, which has been the cause of frequent serious quarrels and has nearly resulted on several occasions in open warfare between them and other tribes on the reservation, particularly with the Umpquas, and all my endeavors to put a stop to this horrible and superstitious practice has been in vain.
    Early in the month of May the greater portion of the Rogue River and all of the Shasta Indians were removed, with their own consent, to the Siletz Coast Reservation, under the immediate charge of Agent Robert B. Metcalfe, leaving only 267 of the above-stated tribes at this agency, as will be seen by the census list of June last, a copy of which I forward with this report (marked B). Of those remaining only 58 are men, and these are by far the most peaceably disposed of the whole tribe.
    The principal chief is Ko-ko-hah-wah, Wealthy (or Sam), an Indian whose principal object is personal aggrandizement.
    In the spring of 1856 all of these Indians surrendered themselves to the officers of the United States and were brought to this reservation, with the exception of about 75 who refused to come in. About the middle of January last these Indians were discovered by the settlers in Rogue River Valley in a most miserable condition; on their first discovery, a party of the settlers, believing the Indians still hostile, went out and killed all the men, about ten in number.
    There being no United States officer in that portion of the country, some of the citizens took charge of the women and children, about sixty in number and communicated the facts to the late Supt. of Indian Affairs, who in his letter dated Feby. 16th 1857 directed me to proceed to Jacksonville as soon as the business of this agency would permit my absence and make such arrangements for their removal as I deemed necessary.
    Accordingly, on the 8th of March last I started to Jacksonville and found most of the Indians in charge of Mr. Horace L. Ish of that place and another party in charge of Mr. Hyde at the mouth of Applegate Creek.
    After getting the two parties together, I made arrangements with Mr. Robert E. Miller of Jacksonville to furnish teams and bring them in; they arrived here on the 21st of May, but arrangements having been made in the meantime for the removal of the greater portion of the tribe from this reservation to the Siletz, they were taken to that reservation.
    From the fact that these Indians were not permanently located on this reservation, but little progress has been made by them in agriculture, and but very few of them could be induced to work. The chiefs of the tribe take but little interest in the matter, do not work themselves, and believing as they do that manual labor is degrading to the men and that the squaws ought to do all the work, they cannot be induced to use their influence with their people in furtherance of this object. But now that the larger and more hostile portion of the tribe are removed to the Siletz Reservation, and those remaining here being now permanently located, I am in hopes that many of them, particularly the boys now growing up, may be taught some of the benefits of civilization and the necessity of their turning their attention to the cultivation of the soil as a means of subsistence, but as regards the adult portion of the tribe, I believe but little good can be effected, and the aid of the government will be indispensable for some time to come.
    On the removal of the Indians to the Siletz, prior to leaving they burned and destroyed nearly all the temporary houses, some 70 or 80 in number, which had been erected for them. These houses have cost on an average about $60.00 each; they were principally built of logs and covered with wide boards and were tolerably comfortable buildings.
    On being remonstrated with for this willful destruction of property, they one and all declared that it was necessary to do so, or they would have no good luck where they were going, and that it had always been their custom, which I have no doubt is the case, as they destroyed all their houses before removing from Rogue River. I think, however, there are still nearly houses enough left to answer during the coming winter.
    In consequence of the removal of the majority of these tribes to the Siletz Reservation, the school provided for in the treaty was dispensed with at this agency on the 16th of June, as suggested by you in your letter of May 21st 1857.
    For the condition of the school at that time I would respectfully refer you to the report of Mr. John Ostrander, the teacher in charge [below].
    The confederated hands of the Umpquas and the Calapooias of Umpqua Valley, located on this reservation, numbering in the last census 262, are by far the most intelligent and industrious, taken as a race, of any tribe on the reservation.
    When first removed here, these Indians suffered a great deal from sickness, and a number of them died; they are now however enjoying good health, being comparatively free from those vices which have so debased the character and destroyed the health of the Rogue River and Shasta tribes.
    These Indians deserve much at the hands of the United States government, for during the whole of the wars which raged so long in our southern country the Umpquas, whose country joined that of the hostile tribes and who were continually urged to join them in their depredations on the property and lives of our citizens, in but very few instances were guilty of any acts of outrage. On the breaking out of the Rogue River war in 1855, it became necessary to remove them from the proximity in which they then were to the hostile tribes; they were consequently hurried away without giving them time either to remove or sell their effects, many of them having acquired considerable property by trading and working for the whites. This has caused me a great deal of trouble, as there is no official information on file in this office showing what arrangements were entered into or what promises were made to them.
    On the return from Washington of General Joel Palmer, late Supt. of Indian Affairs, I wrote to him for information concerning the matter and particularly as to the promises made to Louis Napesa, their head chief. In reply the General writes me as follows, under date of the 13th of July:
    "In reply to your wish that you might be advised as to what arrangements or promises were made to Louis Napesa in regard to his land in the Umpqua, I have to say that in order to obtain his cooperation and aid in inducing his people (the Umpqua Indians, as he has been elected their head chief by the nation in council) I promised him that the value of his improvements then made on his farm in Umpqua County should be paid him and that in return for his claim a tract of equal value should be assigned him at the Grand Ronde or elsewhere at the point where they might be located, and that improvements of equal extent should be made thereon by the government. The amount of business on hand, and my removal from office soon after, prevented me from taking steps to ascertain the value of improvements upon his land claim. It is unnecessary here to give the reasons for thus promising Louis beyond any other of his tribe, but they were such as in my opinion justified even a much larger reward.
    "At the time of collecting the Umpqua Indians and placing them upon the reservation, quite a number of them had property in different parts of Umpqua Valley so situated as to be wholly impracticable taking it with them, and they were promised that the property should either be obtained and delivered to them on the reservation, or be paid an equivalent.
    "I appointed Mr. Magruder a special agent to collect such as could be removed and to sell such articles as would not justify removal. Mr. Magruder made a report of his action, which is on file in the Supt.'s office. Mr. C. M. Walker has a list of property left by the Indians. These people are justly entitled to a consideration for their property, as they were forced to abandon it from causes wholly beyond their control. My impressions now are that the value of property abandoned by them, as shown by the list furnished [by] Mr. Magruder, approximated to three thousand dollars. Mr. Walker, being the local agent in preparing these people for removal to the Grand Ronde, is more familiar with this matter than any other person, and I refer you to him for information."
    This is a matter which I respectfully request may receive early attention at the hands of the Department, as the Indians are exceedingly anxious to have it settled.
    On the breaking out of the Rogue River war in 1855, a small party of the Umpquas were attacked by a body of our citizens who supposed they belonged to the hostile tribes. Several of them were shot; the rest took to the mountains, and although I have sent both Indians and white men in search of them several times, I have not yet been successful in finding them. I am extremely anxious to get them into the reservation, as they frequently descend from the mountains and annoy the citizens by their thefts.
    The Willamette Valley tribes of Indians, including the Calapooias, number 666 and are divided into many small bands.
    The Calapooias have always been represented as a poor, cowardly and thievish race, so much so that their very name has become a byword and term of reproach with the braver and more warlike Indians of the country. This is true of them as a body (yet there are a great many good Indians among them) and will apply also in a great degree to all the bands of the Willamette Indians.
    These bands are the remnants of what were once powerful tribes, who in time past almost filled the whole country; they have now dwindled down to mere bands almost without a name. This may be attributed to many causes--sickness, particularly the smallpox and measles; on being attacked by these fearful scourges, they would first go into a sweat house and while in a state of profuse perspiration plunge into the cold streams, which carried them off by hundreds. This is frequently alluded to by them and attributed to the whites coming among them, instead of to their mode of treatment.
    From their long residence in the settlements these Indians have learned to labor, many of them being good hands to work, but they have also acquired all the vices of the whites.
    They will get drunk every opportunity, and even now that they are on the reservation it is impossible to keep liquor entirely beyond their reach.
    Within the bounds of the Indian country the laws have placed sufficient power in my hands to control this traffic, but beyond these bounds I can do nothing, and unprincipled scoundrels, knowing the difficulty of actual and positive proof, will bring liquor and sell it to the Indians almost up to the very limits of the reservation itself.
    At the time I entered upon my duties at this agency, I found the hospital in operation under the charge of the resident physician, who had received his appointment from the late Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The expenses of this Dept. were enormous, the Indians being most of them sick, and the hospital was crowded.
    Of the actual number of sick either in the hospital or in camp at that time, I have no official information, as the physician was directed to make his monthly and quarterly reports to the office of the Superintendent. I believe, however, a great deal of deception was practiced upon the hospital by the Indians coming there and reporting their friends sick in camp and asking for medicine as an excuse and then begging for rice, sugar, dried fruit &c. Not having received any specific instructions in reference to this matter, I continued the practice of my predecessor, which was to issue such supplies as were called for by the physician on his certifying to me that they were actually necessary for the use of the sick.
    Shortly after But on the receipt of his report the Superintendent informed me, under date of Feby. 18th, that he had directed the physician to make his reports in future to me, in order that I might be enabled to judge of the necessity of such large issues as had been called for by him. Shortly after this the then physician left the service. On the appointment of his successor the expenses were greatly curtailed, and the Indians are now enjoying comparatively good health, as will be seen by his reports.
    The two schools established on this reservation under the treaties with the several Indian tribes have now been in operation for nearly a year, and the reports of the teachers are forwarded with this [see reports of Mary and John Ostrander, below].
    The plan of educating Indian children, by teaching them to read and write and to instill into their minds a knowledge of religion with a view of civilizing them and weaning them from their savage mode of life, is one that has been tried in this country for nearly twenty years, and what has been the result? The Methodist and Catholic missions both made great efforts for a number of years but have all abandoned their schools, and it is notorious that those upon whom the experiment was tried are now as bad, if not worse, than any Indians in the country.
    The expense of carrying on the schools at this agency has been large, and every encouragement in my power has been given them, but I cannot see what corresponding good has been effected. By these remarks I do not wish to reflect upon the teachers, but upon the whole system. There are now three boys who have been working in the shops for some time, there are two in the blacksmith shop and one in the tin shop; these boys have made considerable progress and in time, with proper encouragement, can be made fair mechanics. There are many other boys on the reservation who could be taught to work with good success.
    Although we have dispensed with the Rogue River school, we are still entitled, under the existing treaties, to two schools on this reservation: one for the Willamette Valley tribes and one for the Umpquas, and if we could be allowed to devote a portion of the school funds for the encouragement of those who are willing to work, either in the mechanical arts or in practical farming, more progress would be made in the work of civilization in one year than in ten under the old system. And while on the subject of civilization, I might name that all of these Indians have adopted the dress of the whites. This is a great advantage and especially for those who are willing to work. Entering upon my duties at this agency during the rainy season, which mainly constitutes our winters, everything had a gloomy appearance, the rains falling incessantly, rendering the roads almost impassable. I found on my arrival that a good deal of work has I been commenced in the way of improvement. There was a large number of hands employed in various capacities, both on the farms and buildings, but the state of the weather rendered it impossible for work to be carried on to any advantage.
    In addition to this, there was not one single dollar of funds, and the Department was largely in debt. I therefore discharged all the hands not actually provided for in treaty stipulations as soon as possible, retaining only such as were absolutely necessary to furnish temporary houses for the Indians and to take care of the government property, particularly the stock, the greater portion of which I was compelled to drive off the reservation and pasture them in the valley at great expense. The whole of the surrounding country being fenced up, pasturage could be obtained for them only by paying enormous rates, and even that was very poor, so much so that we lost several of our animals during the winter, and the Indians also lost a large number of their horses. The last year's crop was almost, if not entirely, used up by my predecessor. I was consequently compelled to purchase feed and haul it from the valley at great expense for those teams that were necessarily retained at the reservation.
    The dwelling houses named in the report of the superintendent of farming consisted principally of old, dilapidated log houses, which had belonged to the former owners of the land. There were several other buildings put up, but not one of them was completed. The agency house was commenced on a large scale but was not nearly finished; the rooms were not ceiled, the floors not laid. The hospital was in a building scarcely fit for a barn.
    Since then we have put up and completed several new buildings, a good store room for flour &c, a school house, slaughterhouse, and we have also converted an old building into a good and comfortable hospital. The dwellings of the farmers and mechanics have been completed and the shops partially repaired, a good barn, which was commenced last winter, is now nearly completed. The sawmill erected at this agency under contract made with the Supt. of Ind. Affairs was completed about the beginning of January, but almost immediately after the mill had been received the mill dam gave way in consequence of the sudden rise in the river on which it is built, and it has cost a large amount to keep it in repair.
    The frame of a grist mill, erected before I came here, is still standing in good repair and, I believe, could be completed and put in good working order for about five thousand dollars.
    There are 190 houses on the reservation built for Indians. These are all temporary buildings hurriedly erected last winter, without any floors, and will all require more work to make them comfortable dwellings.
    The number of acres under fence is 2320, according to the report of the supt. of farming, 1000 acres of which has been enclosed this spring. These are all good fences, 8 and 9 rails high, staked and ridered; of this number there are 316 acres in wheat, 380 acres in oats, 125 acres in potatoes, 91 acres in peas, 11 acres in turnips and 740 acres in pasture. The crop, from present appearances, will be very short, in fact, not anything like half a crop. The past season was perhaps one of the most unfavorable ever known in Oregon; the rains set in early and continued without cessation till April.
    Our feed having given out early and the necessity we were under of sending away our stock, we could do scarcely anything during the winter in preparing for a spring crop; everything was consequently put in very late. I think, however, we shall raise sufficient grain for feed, both for the government animals and for the Indians' horses, and we might possibly have nearly enough wheat for seed were it not for the large amount of smut. The amount of grain required for feed will be very large, as there is no grass either on the reservation or in the valley; even now there is scarcely grass enough to keep our stock in anything like good working order.
    I am informed however that there is considerable grass on the tide lands on the coast near the mouth of Salmon River, about 20 miles west of this place, but whether this is within the limits of that portion of the reservation under my jurisdiction I have no accurate knowledge; if I find that it is, I intend after harvest to send a party over to make all the hay that can be secured for winter use.
    As far as I have official knowledge of the boundaries of this reservation, the whole of the arable land is now fenced in; we shall however need a great many more rails to subdivide the fields; the balance of the land is mountainous and covered with dense and almost impenetrable forests, destitute of grass and game; indeed, there is no game of any kind in this section of country, and although I hope that we shall be able in another year to raise sufficient breadstuffs and vegetables to do the Indians, yet they will be still dependent on the aid of the government for beef for some time to come.
    In accordance with your instructions I have caused the arable portions of the reservation to be surveyed and set apart to the several tribes. This at some future time will greatly facilitate the subdivision of the land among the different families under the treaty and will also have a beneficial effect among the Indians generally and encourage them to stay upon and cultivate their own land.
    The whole of the Indians on this reservation are and have been entirely subsisted by the government ever since they came here, rations of beef and flour being issued to them regularly by the commissaries appointed for that purpose. They have no other resource whatever. Should the government withdraw its aid, they would either die of starvation or leave the reservation and prey upon the settlers of the Territory, which would soon result in open warfare between them and the citizens, and on the part of the latter it would be a war of extermination.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affairs
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 762-770.




Sir
    I have the honor to transmit a brief report of my operations as superintendent of farming, showing the amount of land under cultivation at the time I commenced and the improvements we have made up to the present time.
    There were 600 acres of land under fence previous to the purchase, 300 acres of which were in cultivation; we had 74 acres in wheat and 32 acres in oats. We also raised, off the same, 232 bushels of potatoes, 200 bushels of peas and about 20 tons hay and cheat. There were also standing 12 dwelling houses, one log barn and one school house; these buildings were very old and but of little service to us. All these improvements were made when the former owners resided upon it, with the exception of a portion of the crop, which was put in by the direction of the agent.
    The oats and hay were all fed out to our oxen and the Indians' horses by the order of the agent then in charge before the 1st of November 1856, and we were then compelled to commence feeding our wheat. The potatoes and peas were all issued to the Indians.
    From the fact of its being necessary to feed all the wheat to the stock belonging to the Department and to Indians' horses, we were compelled to buy wheat for seed to the amount of four hundred bushels--and there was still another bill of expense; as our pasture failed, and all other kinds of feed were gone, we were under the necessity of driving our oxen and also a portion of the Indians' horses to be pastured and fed, and the expense was much larger from our having to buy all our feed, such as hay, straw & oats, on a credit; for this reason they charged more.
    I will now give you as nearly as possible the present condition of the farm.
    The whole amount of land under fence and in cultivation is 2320 acres. We have 316 acres in wheat, 380 acres in oats, 91 acres in peas, 125 acres in potatoes, 11 acres in turnips, and 740 acres in pasture; of this land we have broken 600 of sod ground and made the rails and fenced in 1720 acres. We have also cleared 15 acres of timbered land and put it into a crop this spring.
    There has been a good deal of improvement made upon the Indians as regards labor; they work much better than I could expect from an uncivilized people. I have been compelled to employ a few white men for the purpose of performing many duties of which the Indians were incapable, as well as for assisting me in teaching them and in taking care of the farming implements, teams &c.
    The Umpquas & Calapooias understand common labor the best of any of the Indians, yet I must give the Umpquas a decided preference over all the others; further, they are more moral (if these Indians have any morality).
    To be brief and close my report, I would state that the continual rains which fell during the winter, and continued till nearly May, caused everything to be very backward and prevented us from breaking as much ground as we would otherwise have done, and our crops will be very light, but I hope with proper management that I shall be able this fall to put in enough wheat to supply the Indians another year.
To
    John F. Miller Esqr.
        Indian Agent
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 771-774.




J. F. Miller, Ind. Agent
    Sir
        I will endeavor to make you a brief report of the state of the Willamette School. It is not as flourishing as it was last spring. Many of my best students have moved to other parts of the reservation; some are gathering berries, and others are too lazy to come to school. At the beginning of the session the school numbered 50 students; at present it does not exceed thirty, and by far the larger portion of these are fluctuating. In a few days the school loses the charm of novelty, after which it requires a great deal of effort to induce them to come. I have made and issued a great many garments, which have greatly improved the appearance of the children.
    While they are in school, their progress is as good as could be expected. But as long as they are free to attend school or remain at home I have no hope of their being constant. The Umpqua and Willamette children are mild and easily governed. Parents and children are anxious to adopt the customs of the whites. A great obstacle to the success of my school is the prejudice of the Indians. It seems that most of the children of the mission school died, and those that lived became most consummate villains. Hence many whites and Indians are of the opinion that education renders an Indian mischievous. It may be observed that a good education implies moral as well as intellectual culture and any person of any clime or hue that receives such will be better. I shall not inquire at this time whether the Indian is susceptible of receiving a good education.
    But I say without hesitancy that circumstances are not favorable for me to impart such. In my first report I spoke of the inefficiency of our schools and urged the necessity of establishing them on a different basis before they could be of any lasting utility. My experience since has increased my convictions of the necessity of such a measure. Believing that you will adopt the best means to improve the condition of the school, I will add nothing more.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 775-777.



Sir
    In compliance with instructions received from your office of May 19th 1857, I herewith transmit the following report relative to Indian affairs in this agency: I was instructed by the late Supt. Hedges to take charge of this district, which I did on the 20th day of August 1856, the boundary and extent of which is as follows: commencing at the mouth of the Siletz River, running south along the coast about fifty miles to the mouth of the Alsea River, thence east about twenty miles to the western line of the eighth range of townships in the public survey, thence north to the intersection of a line running east from the mouth of the Siletz River, thus embracing about one thousand square miles in my district, eight hundred of which are so mountainous and destitute of vegetation on which animals can subsist that mountain goats would perish with hunger; the remaining two hundred square miles embrace much valuable land and timber. In the northern portion of the district the mountains are covered with green fir timber and abound with elk and deer, whilst the middle and southern portions present a most gloomy aspect.
    It is the most rugged country I have ever seen, presenting one continued range of high, sharp mountains and deep cañons, covered with immense forests of dead timber, a portion of which has fallen in all directions and grown over with vines and underbrush, so that it is impossible for either man or beast to travel over them.
    The Siletz River rises in the northeast corner of the district, runs south twenty miles, thence west six miles, thence northwest to the ocean. The first prairie or arable land lies on the river about fifteen miles from its source, thence along down the river for fifteen miles there is alternately prairie and timber. The prairies, which embrace about five thousand acres, is about all the arable land in my district and is the portion on which the Indians are located. The prairie on which the agency buildings are being erected is central and only about six miles from an arm of the Yaquina Bay, which is navigable for small vessels. There can be a wagon road made from the agency to the bay with but little expense, the divide between the bay and Siletz River being very low, and prairie nearly all the way. The tribes of Indians which have been located in this district are as follows: the Shastas, or Upper Rogue River Indians, which include John's band, numbering 172; George's, 222; Jos. Lane's, 160; and the coast tribes, Joshua's, 179; Chetco, 215; Tututni, 202; Mikonotunne, 129; Shasta Costa, 110; Port Orford, 242; Coquille, 313; Euchre, 84, and Siletz, 21, making 2049 Indians in my district. They are all wretchedly poor and destitute of all the necessaries and comforts of life except what is supplied them by the government. An Indian who owns a horse is thought to be rich. They are generally industrious and manifest a disposition to imitate the whites; they adapt themselves to our customs and learn the use of tools more readily than any people I have ever seen. I have them employed in all the different branches of labor which is being done at this agency, such as whipsawing, chopping, plowing, driving teams, riving and shaving shingles and making rails, in which many of them are doing better service than one-half of the white men I have had employed. In a short time we will be able to do all the labor with Indians, except a few white men to instruct them.
    The children which have had an opportunity of going to school learn very readily, many of them having learned to spell, and some of them to read, in the few months they attended school at the Grand Ronde Agency. The zeal which their parents manifest in the education, and the aptness of the children to learn, induces me to believe something can be done with these people if properly managed, and in a few years civilization, law and order will take the place of savage brutality and a disregard for the lives and property of their fellow man.
    At present they regard the white man as their natural enemy and recognize no other principle of government than that of force, the weaker yielding to the stronger in all instances, and as they regard the whites as superior in numbers and in the use of firearms, they have determined to submit to such regulations as we may think best for their future government and advancement in civilization.
    They all express a strong desire to return to their native country and appear to have a superstitious awe of having their bodies buried in a foreign land. Many of the more sensitive have died from a depression of spirits, having failed in the last desperate struggle to regain their country, where they once roamed free as air, unmolested by the white man, and knew no bounds to their liberties and savage ambition.
    I was instructed by the late Supt. Hedges to commence operations on the Siletz River in November, at which time it commenced raining, and rained until the last day of March with only eighteen days' intermission, which made it impossible for pack animals to travel, and as no person was willing to risk their vessels at sea the Indians were compelled to pack their supplies on foot, for one month, a distance of thirty-five miles.
    The farming operations will not be extensive this year, as it was impossible to get seed in the right season for planting. I have about four hundred acres enclosed, three hundred of which have been broken, and about two hundred and eighty acres in cultivation as follows: 150 of wheat, 30 oats, 40 peas, 60 potatoes, and 8 in turnips. The wheat will not yield anything, owing to the ground having been badly broken and sown too late in the season. The oats, peas, potatoes and turnips will turn off a large crop for the season in which they were planted.
    Many of the Indians expressed a desire to engage in agriculture, and with the necessary aid from the government and a prompt discharge of the duties of her agents it is confidently believed that they will be able to subsist themselves in that pursuit. I have had erected at this point one office and storehouse with bedrooms attached, one large warehouse with drug shop and bedrooms attached, one issue house, one cook & mess house for employees, one blacksmith shop, one school house, one slaughterhouse, and timber hewn and hauled for one large hospital and two dwellings, all of which will be permanent buildings and is an item of expense that will not occur again in thirty years. I will have log cabins erected for the Indians, as the winters are too severe for them to live in tents. This labor will be done by Indians with a few white men to instruct them. I would also recommend the erection of a saw & flouring mill, which will be sufficient for all the Indians in my district. As the treaties of purchase with the coast tribes of Indians have not been ratified, and consequently no annuities due them, I would earnestly recommend the purchase of winter clothing for these people and the erection of school houses &c., which can apply on their annuity account should the treaties be ratified, otherwise to be given as presents for maintaining peace. I would suggest for the consideration of the Department the propriety of confederating the Cow Creeks, with whom a treaty was made on the 19th day of September 1853, with those of the Rogue River Indians, treated with on the 10th Sept. 1853, as they are all united and speak the same tongue. About two-thirds of each are located in my district and the remainder at the Grand Ronde Agency. Also, the confederating of all the coast tribes now living in my district, as enumerated in the foregoing, thus we will be able to give general satisfaction to the Indians, and prevent a complication of accounts. I herewith transmit an estimate for funds for maintaining peace and carrying out treaty stipulations for the year ending 30th June 1858; you will observe that the largest portion of this estimate is for permanent improvements which will not occur again, and it is only in the commencement that the government will be required to advance such heavy sums. These people have been almost entirely subsisted by the government for the last year with the exception of the Siletz Indians, who have only been subsisted a portion of the time. Should the government deem it wise to advance the amount of this estimated, I can raise a surplus of subsistence for the Indians, except a small amount of beef, which can be purchased out of their annuity funds. Should the government withhold its aid, the condition of these people would be truly distressing; hunger would drive them to desperation, and war would be the inevitable result.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 781-789.




J. F. Miller, Indian Agent
    Sir
        As the Department makes it my duty, I avail myself of this opportunity to report the state of the Rogue River and Umpqua School, of which I took charge August 1856. The tribes were then located together, within a few hundred yards of the school house. Over 80 students came to school. Soon an animosity of feeling sprang up, and a part of the tribes moved a mile distant. This reduced the school to 50 students. These were destitute of clothing and ignorant of our language. The agent made arrangements to provide them with clothing. It was no small affair to keep them clad; frequently the larger boys lost their clothes in gaming and were almost destitute the rest of the winter. They seemed to think it our sole business to minister to their wants and that they were doing us a favor by attending school. They often inquired what we would give them to come to school. They hate confinement and scorn discipline. In disposition the Rogue River Indians are brave, haughty, indolent and superstitious. The inconstancy of the students is a great embarrassment. One day the school may number 40, the next 10.
    In the spring the tribes I taught were moved to the Siletz Reservation. At the time the School was doing well. Many were reading in words of one syllable, writing &c., and had acquired some knowledge of our tongue. Before leaving they not only burned their own buildings, but dashed every glass out of the school house and destroyed the furniture. After their removal I was directed to open a school among the remaining tribes of Rogue River Indians. I soon had a school similar to the former, though not so numerous. By the first of June they commenced reading. At that time I received intimations that my school would be closed, as the Department was not able to defray the expenses of two schools on this reservation.
    About this time there was some sickness among the tribes which the doctoress was not able to cure. She must therefore assign good reasons for her failure or forfeit her life. The Indians believe that life and death are at the volition of the doctoress.
    On my way to school one morning I met a chief, who told me he did not wish school any longer. The doctoress said she distinctly saw the sickness that afflicted the tribes issue from the trumpet which I sounded to announce the hour of school and settle like a mist upon the camp. And should I continue to sound it, in a few days all the Indians would be in their graves--the camp desolate! I was not such a monster as to sound it again, so the Indians "still live."
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 778-780.



Col. Nesmith
    Sir
        There is a few Indians in this part of the Umpqua that could not be got to go on the reserve at the time of the Indian disturbances.
    They are what we call Klamaths. At and through [the] war they kept themselves in the mountains and harmed no one, but for the last three months they have made their occasional visits into the settlements adjacent [to] the mountains, sometimes trading skins & at other times borrowing flour & blankets without permission; thus far there has been no difficulty between the whites & them. There is a half breed Indian that usually stops above the upper settlements and the Calapooia that is suspected of trading them ammunition. There is about twenty-five of these vagabonds in all (say, eight bucks). These Indians has been hunting last week two or three miles above my ranch. The greatest harm they are doing is keeping the women of the neighborhood uneasy. I think if ammunition was kept out of their hands there would be no uneasiness from that quarter.
J. W. Nesmith
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 189.






Sir,
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 19th of June, and sincerely regret that the rules of the Department are such as to prohibit my being supplied with funds to pay current expenses and outstanding claims against this office, some of which have been due for more than one year. The troubles, embarrassments and difficulties of conducting the business of this office without funds, and to which I have adverted in my communications of the last three months, have arrived at a point truly intolerable. I should much prefer retiring from the office to give place to some person who has the ability to conduct its complicated affairs without funds than to remain in it under the present pay-nothing policy, in the vain endeavor of conducting it upon promises. Nearly all the agents in north territories are from one to four quarters behind with their accounts and say that they cannot render them until they are supplied with funds to take up outstanding vouchers. The creditors of the government are aware that Congress has appropriated ample funds for their relief, and cannot be made to understand why they are not paid. I have advanced all my own available private funds and used my individual credit to sustain the credit of the government and can now do no more than allow things to take their own course.
    The estimates to which you refer were forwarded from this office on the 20th of June last and as soon as they could be prepared after my return from Washington Territory.
    The draft for $17,580.00 on New York accompanying your letter has been received, as it was all designed for treaty purposes. I immediately turned it over to the proper agents to be accounted for under the different heads of appropriation. I would take the liberty to suggest that when funds are remitted for the payment of annuities if an entire installment could be remitted at once it would be preferable to sending it at different times, and in detached portions, as the trouble and expense of purchasing the goods, collecting the Indians and making the distributions is as great in paying a portion of the annuities as it would be for the whole. By reference to the 3rd article of the treaty with the Rogue River Indians of Sept. 10th 1853 you will observe that the United States stipulates to pay "five thousand dollars to be expended in the purchase of agricultural implements, blankets, clothing and such other goods as may be deemed by the Superintendent or agent most conducive to the comfort and necessities of said tribe on or before the 1st day of September 1854, and for the payment of such permanent improvements as may have been made by land claimants on the aforesaid reserve, the value of which to be ascertained by those persons appointed by the said Superintendent."
    In the statement of funds remitted, I find, that for the Rogue River Indians "for the purchase of agricultural implements, clothing and such other articles as may be deemed conducive to the comfort and necessities of the said Indians, and for the expense of such permanent improvements as may have been made by claimants to land on the reserve named in the 2nd article of the treaty 10th September 1853, $2000.00." From the wording of the statement of funds, I apprehend that the $2000.00 referred to is a portion of the five thousand dollars in the articles of the treaty quoted above and which should have been paid "on or before the 1st day of September 1854." If I am right in this conjecture (and there is nothing on file in this office showing to the contrary) there is still due the Rogue River Indians their annual installment for the year 1856 of "two thousand five hundred dollars each commencing on or about the 1st day of September 1854, in blankets, clothing, farming utensils &c. &c."
    I was somewhat at a loss to determine how to dispose of the two thousand dollars, as the statement of funds seemed to contemplate that it should be used for the joint purpose therein expressed. Upon examination I find that the claims for permanent improvements, as allowed by the Commissioner appointed to adjust them in 1855, amount $2832 25/100, and as there was not a sufficient sum remitted to pay them, and as the Indians were very destitute, I concluded to turn over the $1000.00 to the agents of those Indians to be disbursed for their benefit in the purchase of "blankets, clothing and such other goods as may be deemed most conducive to their comfort &c." I deemed this course absolutely necessary as the Indians were entirely destitute of clothing, and the whole sum of $2000.00 would do but little towards relieving the pressing wants of nine hundred and nine Indians, it being a little over two dollars to the person!
    As I suppose there is $3000.00 still in the treasury for the payment of the claimants for permanent improvements on the reservation, I would suggest that it is now four years since the improvements of those persons were taken for the benefit of the Indians, the claimants have secured nothing, and it is a matter of justice that they should be paid. I would therefore request that the funds for that purpose be forwarded as soon as practicable. This 3rd article of the treaty of the 11th September 1853 also provides that fifteen thousand dollars shall be retained by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs to pay for "the property of the whites destroyed during the late war. The amount of property so destroyed to be estimated by three disinterested commissioners to be appointed by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs."
    The board of commissioners referred to in the foregoing were appointed by late Supt. Palmer on the 8th of December 1854 and consisted of L. F. Grover, A. C. Gibbs and George Ambrose, under the instructions of Supt. Palmer. The commissioners proceeded to the Rogue River country and made the necessary investigations. They reported a schedule of claims for property destroyed belonging to the whites, and for which they (the commissioners) issued certificates to the claimants, seventy-three in number, and amounting in the aggregate $43,040.75. Those seventy-three claimants entitled to indemnification under the treaty remain unpaid, and I desire to know if the $15,000 provided for in the treaty has been drawn from the treasury, and in the event that it has not, I have to request that it be remitted, as the claims adjudicated by the provisions of the treaty amount to $43,040.75. I have to request that I be specially instructed as to the disbursement of the $15,000 provided for, and desire to know whether it would be my duty to pay the full amount of the claims presented as far as the sum of $15,000 will go, or whether that amount is to be distributed pro rata among the claimants.
    The copies of laws, regulations and statutes at large, which you advise having forwarded to this office, have not yet been received. To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affairs
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 377-379.  Original on NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1057-1064.



Sir
    By the enclosed letter from Genl. Lane, you learn the condition of things in the Umpqua Valley resulting from the hostility of the few Indians there belonging to the tribes under your charge. I had to direct that you proceed as soon as possible to the Umpqua Valley, and that you will use every exertion in your power to bring those Indians to the reservation.
    I would suggest the propriety of your taking with you a number of friendly Indians, who may be able to induce the hostiles to come in. In the event of your not being successful in bringing those Indians in within a reasonable time, you had better appoint some reliable person resident in the Umpqua Valley as special agent for that purpose. The whole matter is submitted to your discretion, trusting that you may succeed in arresting and bringing in those troublesome Indians.
    Let me hear from you immediately, and inform me of the time when you start from the agency.
To
    John F. Miller Esq.
        Ind. Agent
            Grand Ronde Agency O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10.



Col. Nesmith,
    Sir,
        In compliance with your request I went to Chetco and found things in a bad situation, from the fact that the Smith's River Indians had refused to go to the Klamath Reservation and had broken to the bush, declaring they would rather die than go, and were using their influence to induce the Chetcos to assist them. I should have returned immediately, but from the persuasion of the people in the vicinity of Winchuck and Chetco, I concluded to remain and prevent an outbreak.
    I collected some sixty on an island in the river and would not permit them to go on the south side of the river. The most of them are willing to go to the reserve, but some say they will not go. They have plenty to eat. There are four men and some twenty women and children on Pistol River who have declared they would not go to the reserve, and two men with twelve women & children at Whaleshead that are hostile and render it dangerous for people to pass. There are also seven men and some forty women and children on the north part of Chetco who have been hostile always and who will unite with their own living on Lower Chetco, and who make regular incursions in the Illinois Valley, and who lately plundered a China village on Canyon Creek. I believe I can get most of them together and prevent further mischief, if it is your wish.
    Major Heintzelman, agent for the Klamath Indians, stated that I was to act in concert with him, but I told him I had no orders to that effect and should do nothing in an official way, but simply as a citizen acting by the request of other citizens until I could learn your wishes. If you order their removal it should be done next month, as it will consume a good deal of time, as a number are old, and they cannot travel more than five miles a day.
    If you wish them to remain until spring they should know it, and that would enable them to build shelter to winter in; they are now living in willow booths, simply shaded from the sun.
    Probably it would be better to have them remain until spring, as by that all could be collected at one place and the public relieved from all fear. I will start in the morning for Chetco and will remain there until I can hear from you and would request to have any communications for me sent to Crescent City, as I can get them more easily from that place than here. Please write; anything you may order I will do my best to carry out to the letter.
Col. Nesmith, Sup.
    Ind. Aff. O.&W.T.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 756-758.



Sir,
    I am quite anxious to get your decision upon the claims which I lately presented to the Indian Bureau for monies paid by me in Oregon for the use of the government.
The Hon.
    J. W. Denver
        Commissioner of
            Indian Affairs
                Washington D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 198-199.



Mr. Palmer Dear Sir
    I recd. your note concerning the Molallas and getting them guns and ammunition all right to hunt with. They appear well pleased to get back to their old range again.
    The bearer of this note--his name is John, a Klamath Indian and honest so far as I know--he has found one of his horses in the possession of J. E. Faylon in Clackamas Co. near where I live. He will not give him up until the Indian pays him $26.00, which is nearly the worth of the horse. He says he has posted the horse and pastured him to that amt. I think he has used the horse some. You can give some idea about that. I think John ought to have his horse.
    As I have had the charge of their horses, they look to me for them. I will do all I can to get them.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 30; Miscellaneous Loose Papers 1850-1873.



Sir,
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 28th ultimo, enclosing a copy of special order No. 95 in relation to the reinforcement of Fort Umpqua, also, a copy of your letter of instructions to Maj. Garrett U.S.A. of July 28th. The Indians are all quiet at present, with the exception of a few renegades in the Umpqua Valley who refused to go to the reservation.
    They are committing some depredations in that region, in the way of killing stock & robbing houses.
    I have dispatched an agent to the Umpqua for the purpose of endeavoring to bring them to the reservation.
    I learn also a few Indians in the southwestern portion of this territory, belonging to the Chetcos and other remnants of tribes on the coast near the California line, who are in connection with the California Indians, causing some trouble. I shall take immediate steps to procure their removal to the Siletz Reservation.
To:
    Genl. Clarke U.S.A.
        Comdg. Dept. Pacific
            San Francisco Cal.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 383.



Sir,
    Your com. of the 3rd instant reached this office last evening. In order to save additional expense to the government, I have desired that the few Indians to which you refer would remain at their present location, where they might procure their own subsistence. If their present residence in the neighborhood is giving trouble to the whites, and likely to result in hostilities, I have to request that you will assume their charge and have them taken to the Siletz Reservation.
    In the event of your attempting to remove them, I desire that all should be brought away, so as to prevent future difficulties in that locality.
    You will use your discretion as to bringing them by land or water and adopt the mode of conveyance least expensive to the government. Before undertaking this service, it is but proper that I should notify you that I have not a single dollar of public funds in my hands applicable to any purpose, and that you and others who render service or furnish supplies in the removal of those Indians must take your chances and the risk of ever being remunerated.
    I would say, however, that if funds are placed in my hands applicable to such purposes, I will reimburse you for the necessary expenses incurred and pay you a fair compensation for your time necessarily employed.
To
    Capt. Wm. Tichenor
        Crescent City
            Cal.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 759-761.



    We members of the Oregon Annual Conference of the Methodist E. Church embracing the Territories of Oregon and Washington in conference assembled would hereby respectfully express our unqualified approbation of the humane policy pursued by the government of the U.S. in providing in the various treaties made with the Indian tribes of the Coast for the settlement of this unfortunate race upon reservations of land, and the introduction among them of the blessings of civilization and Christianity. It is a debt which in justice and humanity our nation, now the most prosperous on Earth, owes this unhappy people and should make constant efforts to liquidate by providing for the political, social and moral elevation of the few scattered remnants of this once mighty people.
    Permit us however to express our solemn conviction that Christianity, in faith and practice, must be at the foundation of all schemes at all successful in this just and philanthropic cause.
    We would therefore respectfully suggest that too careful regard cannot be had to the moral and religious characters of the persons selected to carry out the noble purposes of the general government in regard to the Indians. Otherwise if they are permitted to see infidelity, profanity, prostitution, intemperance, Sabbath breaking, fraud & abuse, without check or disapproval, they are only brought at great expense into a position in which they can readily learn and embrace the vices of civilization without any of its attendant blessings. And the result in a few years [will] be an acceleration of the final extinction of the race, or a turning away in complete disgust from the proffered benefits of civilization and Christianity. We deem it not inappropriate in conclusion to express on our part as citizens or as ministers of the gospel a willingness and readiness to cooperate by our precepts and example in this humane enterprise of elevating the condition of this degraded race whenever the circumstances of the Indians do not preclude the possibility of success.
Corvallis Oregon Territory Aug. 17th 1857
NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 611 Oregon Superintendency, 1858-1859, frames 567-568.



Dr. Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the laws & regulations of the Indian Bureau, also [a] copy of the treaties made with the several Indian tribes. Enclosed please find the correspondence which took place between Sheridan and myself relative to disarming the Indians, and to show you how far he was right about the Indians regarding this as their future home. I have to say that it has been with the utmost difficulty that I have been able to keep them here this long. All of the Upper Coquille Indians have left the reservation, and unless there are steps taken at once to bring them back there will not be a Coast Indian left on the reserve in one month. I will advise with Capt. Augur in relation to them; in the meantime please let me hear from you.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 206.


    THE WHEAT CROP IN ROGUE RIVER VALLEY.--In the above valley, in Oregon Territory, it is said that the wheat crop will not amount to over seventy-five thousand bushels. The crop was mostly volunteer, and this yield is considered small.
Sacramento Daily Union, August 15, 1857, page 2



Sir
    Enclosed please find steamer Columbia account for "transportation of Indians from Crescent City to Port Orford." This service was rendered in the spring of last year at a time when I was gathering in the Indians near the Oregon line, and these 10 [70?] were found to belong among the Oregon Indians. I wrote to the Indian agent at Port Orford, the nearest point, as to what disposition should be made of them. He returned a verbal answer to "send them by steamer and he would pay the expense. The local agent at Port Orford at that time was Mr. Olney. I accordingly sent them the first opportunity, but it seems he had been relieved from that locality previous to their arrival, and consequently the amount has never been paid. I have no doubt that the Supt. of Ind. Affairs for Oregon will order the bill paid when acquainted with the circumstances. I would remark that this was the cheapest method of getting the Indians where they belonged, as the whole country at that time from Crescent City to Port Orford was in a state of warfare, and small parties of either whites or Indians could not travel by land without danger of being cut off.
To
    Hon. T. J. Henley
        Supt. Ind. Affairs
            San Francisco
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 984-987.  Cover letter not transcribed.




    TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS IN OREGON.--We find the following in the Jacksonville Sentinel, of August 15th:
    "We learn that a portion of Old John's band and the Shastas have left the Yamhill Reserve. It is said that they stole all the Klickitats' horses, and left for parts unknown. It is thought, however, that they have come south, as they have been heard to declare that they would yet have revenge on the whites in Rogue River Valley. A house was robbed in Umpqua Valley recently. The proprietor of the house was absent, and arrived home in the night, before they had completed their work. They had carried almost everything outside, when they were surprised by his return. They made off with a gun or two and a lot of ammunition.
    "We would not willingly raise a false alarm, but we have our information from a source which seems reliable. The report is in a measure confirmed by the few Indians seen and the signs of much larger parties on Galice Creek and lower Rogue River. It will be well for persons in exposed localities to be on their guard. It is said that these Indians have procured considerable quantities of ammunition from the regulars on the Reserve, and they no doubt have plenty of arms cached in their old range, for it is well known that they did not deliver up all their arms when they surrendered. It is to be hoped that we will not again be troubled with the presence of our old red foes, but they may yet make us much difficulty."
Sacramento Daily Union, August 21, 1857, page 3



Sir,
    Acknowledging the receipt of your letter of July 15th enclosing copies of certain letters of Genl. Clarke, Capt. Augur and Lt. Sheridan of the army relative to the conduct of Indian Agent R. B. Metcalfe, I have to say that the pressing business of this office precludes the possibility of my giving the matter my immediate attention. I would say, however, that in the course of a few days I shall be able to investigate the subject and make a report.
    In the meantime I have to request that any decision of the Department in relation to the conduct of Mr. Metcalfe may be suspended. This is particularly desirable as he is one of the most efficient agents in the Territory, and a man whose services are indispensable in the management of the Indians for whom he is now agent.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affrs.
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 387.  Original on NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 692-693.



Dr Sir
    The Coquille Indians, who ran off some time since, have returned, having met with opposition by the agent and military at the Umpqua, though some ten or fifteen succeeded in getting through and are now on the Coquille. I sent an Indian express for them, which will be gone about two weeks. I send you a sample of the flour being furnished by the schooner.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        W. &. O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 227.



Sir,
    I deem it my duty to report my inability to do anything [illegible] helping Indians in the reservation [illegible] regarding of the sub-agent at this point. Last Thursday week it was reported to me that a party of sixty or seventy Indians from the vicinity of Port Orford formerly were coming down the beach to pay a visit to the Umpqua Indians. Knowing that they did not belong to the district pertaining to this sub-agency I immediately called on Dr. Drew, the sub-agent, and proposed that they should be sent back immediately. He however thought that they should be allowed to remain that night to visit, saying that he would start them back early the next morning.
    One of the chiefs had come in in advance to notify Dr. Drew that they were coming, informing him also that they had no pass from their agent, Mr. Metcalfe, asserting that they had a pass from Mr. Metcalfe but that it had been destroyed by a white man on the reservation, who told them that it only authorized them to go to the Siuslaw. I was informed from another quarter, however, that the Indians had destroyed the pass themselves. At all events they came here, some five miles below the lower line of the reservation without a pass and remained, as I supposed they would, for several days, not leaving here until the following Sunday and telling one Indian here that they were coming down again the next moon.
    Yesterday Dr. Drew received a letter from Mr. Metcalfe stating that some Indians had left and gone to the Coquille River and that they were expressing their determination to leave. He particularly requested Dr. Drew to arrest and send back Washington and Jackson, two chiefs who had told him boldly that they did not intend to remain on the reservation. These two chiefs were of the party above referred to. In a conversation with Doct. Drew yesterday he informed me that whilst that party was down here he learned that they had come down with the intention of crossing and going below if they got a fair chance. Yet this information was withheld from me during the whole of their stay and for more than [a] week after their departure.
    Dr. Drew himself admits that a small party crossed about last Tuesday night and he admits that it is quite likely that they were put over by some of the Umpqua Indians. I think it very probable that they were a portion of the same party that left the Sunday before to go up the coast.
    It is very evident that this policy will afford the Indians every facility for getting away in small parties or for making arrangements to get away in a body. A proper degree of firmness would I think keep the Indians quiet, and were I not embarrassed by the presence of the sub-agency at this point I would apprehend no danger whatever of the Indians going below. Dr. Drew contends that there is no reservation--that certain treaties with the Indians not having been ratified by the state, they have a perfect right to go anywhere in the Territory.
    The Indians under his own immediate charge are to be found down the coast below this and up the river many miles above Scottsburg. One of the chiefs belonging to this encampment has not long since [been] offering ten dollars a canister gunpowder in Scottsburg.
    Under these circumstances I respectfully request instructions as to what course I should pursue.
Major W. W. Mackall
    Asst. Adjt. Gen.
        Hd. Qrs. Dept. Pacific
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 218.



Sir
    Your letter bearing date August 27th was received this morning. I received from Agent Metcalfe about nine o'clock p.m. on the 21st last a letter containing the information you speak of regarding the Coquille Indians leaving the reservation. Feeling all the importance of effectually stopping the first attempt of the Indians to leave, I proceeded to the Agency next morning with twenty-five men mounted, which with the thirty I keep permanently there would have enabled me to organize a mounted party of sufficient force to bring the Indians back without any trouble.
    On my arrival at the Agency, however, I found that the principal chiefs of the Coquille, Washington and Jackson, had already returned and that their people were also returning. They had been stopped, it seems, at the Umpqua.
    Mr. Metcalfe sent over Washington and cautioned him that any future attempts to leave would involve punishment to the chiefs.
    Under the circumstances the agent had not deemed it necessary to make any use of the force I put at his disposal to bring these people back--satisfied that they would return themselves.
    It is my duty and it will be a pleasure to me at all times to cooperate with your department in preserving quiet and contentment amongst these people, and particularly in preventing their leaving the reservation.
J. W. Nesmith Esqr.
    Supt. Indian Affairs
        O. & W.T. Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 209.



Captain
    By a letter received this morning from Agent Metcalfe, I am informed that the Upper Coquille Indians are leaving the reservation, and the agent expresses great fear that all the coast Indians will follow them. I am satisfied if their exodus is not prevented, that we shall again have open hostilities along the coast and in the southern portion of the Territory. You are aware that the Indian Department is powerless so far as preventing any physical barrier to the return of these people is concerned. I have therefore to request that you will render to Mr. Metcalfe such assistance as is in your power to prevent those people from leaving the reservation.
To
    Capt. C. C. Augur
        4th Infty. U.S.A.
            Comdg. Fort Hoskins O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, page 389.



Sir:
    I have the honor to acknowledge your letter of July 17th enclosing tabular statement of funds which the Secretary of the Interior was requested to have remitted to this office.
    The funds alluded to have not yet arrived. I shall confidently expect them, however, by the next mail.
    I observe by the tenor of your letter in speaking of the time when my salary would commence that you have been mistaken. You say that I assumed the duties of the office on the 22nd of April, whereas that was the date of the execution of my bond.
    I relieved Mr. Hedges and entered upon the duties of the office on the 1st day of May.
    Your injunction relative to the economical disbursement of the public funds will be strictly adhered to.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affrs.
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 655-656.



Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of August 27th enclosing certain correspondence between Capt. C. C. Augur, Lt. Sheridan and myself and beg to say that they have done me great injustice in their reports, and it is with extreme diffidence that I undertake to reply to these gentlemen as their acts and representations are approved and endorsed by some of the first men in the nation, by the side of whom I feel like the tender growth on the boughs of the stately oak which has stood the chilling blasts of an hundred winters and feel that I may be nipped from my position quite as easily, but the faith I have in the justice and integrity of my government induces me to believe that I may yet stand. I will endeavor to set forth the facts in the case so the Department may clearly understand the course I took in the affair and my reasons for doing so and earnestly hope the Department will give credit to my report, as I will only state such facts as I can substantiate by the oaths of four or five as respectable citizens as there are in the United States. I will answer such portions of their letters as relate to my conduct as they come; first in Capt. Augur's letter to Major Mackall he says, "Mr. Metcalfe's complaints of the apprehensions of his employees should attach to himself and arise from his having located his agency so far away from the military post; when about locating it I suggested &c."
    In reply to that position of his letter I have to say that in locating my agency it was done without reference to the military post, that this point was selected from the fact that it is in the center of the farming portion of the district and is the most tangible point to the depot from which we are to receive all of our supplies. The distance from the depot to the mil. post is more than double the distance to this agency, and the road four times as bad. This is one strong reason why the agency should be here and not at one extremity of the reservation, and another reason it has saved four or five thousand dollars transportation this spring and summer, and will continue to be a like saving to the government. And further I have to say that this point was selected and the agency building and mess house for employees and other improvements amounting to several thousand dollars was done before I heard one word from Capt. Augur either directly or indirectly regarding the location of the agency. He says, "I am credibly informed that one reason assigned the Superintendent for locating where he did was to get away from the post." This may be so, but not for the reason that he would have the Department understand, and in fact intimated in one of his letters to me, namely, a hostile feeling I had for the military.
    Far be it from me to entertain such a mean principle, and I hope to sink when I become so base as to sacrifice the public interest to gratify a personal feeling, and the supposition is erroneous that I do or ever did entertain an unfriendly feeling towards the military, having once belonged to the army myself and a score of friends and relatives now in the army. I have been taught to regard the officers as high-toned gentlemen. My reason for wanting to be a short distance from the post was in consequence of the bad influence a large body of men exert over the uncultivated minds of the Indians. The scenes enacted at the Grand Ronde Agency is enough to discourage any person in the belief that these people ever can be civilized with a large number of drunken soldiers quartered in their midst dealing out liquor to the men and debauching the women. I only asked for a detachment to be located here temporarily until the Indians became more quiet, at which time I think it the best policy to have them stationed a short distance from the Indians, say five or six miles, because a soldier will obtain liquor by some means, and he will give it to the Indians. Now I would dislike to impugn Capt. Augur's motives in locating his post in King's Valley, but it is currently believed that it was done with an eye to his personal comfort and convenience, and I must say that it was done with a total disregard to the opinions and wishes of the officers of the Indian Department; one reason assigned me for locating his post in King's Valley was that it afforded protection to the citizens there, that the citizens told me that they would all sign a petition for their removal, that they had been the means of bringing grog shops there and thus destroying the peace of their once-quiet homes; another reason why it should not be there is it forms a link of communication with the grog shops of the valley where those soldiers obtain liquor and turn it over to the soldiers quartered here. In regard to Lt. Sheridan's communications I beg leave to say that they contain many exaggerations and misrepresentations which I propose to prove by the depositions of respectable persons if the gov. desires me to carry the investigation to that extent. Now the difficulty between Lt. Sheridan and myself has grown out of a want of knowledge of the relation existing between an Indian agent and an army officer, and I have been unable to find anything in the regulations of the Indian Department showing which is to have the authority in the agency. Lt. Sheridan came here and exercised the duties both of agent and commanding officer, and consequently I was to have nothing to say in the adjustment and regulation of affairs in my agency, which will be shown by the following: He called a council of the Indians at Yaquina Bay without consulting with me or any person instructed to act for me, and told the Indians that they could retain all of their arms, and that they must be good now and not talk anymore about going away, and promised them many things that I could not promise. After this he wanted to turn the Indians over to me without my saying one word to them and leave the country.
    In his letter of the 13th April he says, "I then told them that I would give them two days to move off to the Siletz and on the evening of the 12th not an Indian was left." In reply to this I must say that there were about one hundred Indians who did not leave there, and he knows it. They were not only there then, but are there now, and have been ever since he left. Again he says, "During the time that I have been here I have endeavored to ascertain the reason of their discontent, and attribute it to two causes, &c." To the first cause I denounce as being utterly false without the semblance of truth in connection with it, and I can prove it to the satisfaction of the Department. I do not now nor never did entertain a hostile feeling towards the Indians as my treatment to them will show, and the numerous difficulties I have gotten into by taking the part of the Indians both before and since I have been connected with the Indian Department, he says I have surrounded myself with employees who were engaged in hostilities with them in the lower country, to which I must reply at that time I only had two men in the service who were engaged in hostilities with the Indians south, and only one of them at this agency. Capt. Relf Bledsoe and Lt. Geo. H. Abbott are the two employees who are known to be kind, generous and noble in all of their bearings and men who have never had a difficulty with the Indians except where their country has called for their services.
    In reply to Lt. Sheridan's report of the 15th April I must say that he has labored to create a false impression. He says, "I arrived at the Siletz Agency on the 4th and learned with regret the impolitic and excitable conduct of Mr. Metcalfe. I heard that immediately on the arrival of the advance of the Indians he had demanded their guns and when they refused or hesitated to give them up had used the most violent language towards them." All of this is a false representation made by a few Indians who were stung to the quick in consequence of having to come here and were ready to say or do anything. Now if Lt. Sheridan is allowed to take the bare assertions of an Indian (for his information could not have been from any other source) in relation to the state of affairs in my agency and write them to Capt. Augur as facts and he (Capt. Augur) endorse them, I must say that he can prove anything.
    In reply to my excitable conduct, I must say that if my acts indicated it they were false to my feelings, for I seldom get excited on any occasion, neither did I demand their arms upon the arrival of the advance of the Indians, but told them after they were nearly or quite all here that I would require them to give up their arms, upon which six or eight positively refused and said they would not give up their arms. I then informed them without the least excitement on my part that I would take them, to which the Indians replied you will see who has their way about it. I then replied that we would see, and got up and walked away without saying another word, and this is what he calls impolitic and excitable conduct. All of this was prior to my having seen Lt. Sheridan or knowing about his having held a council at the Yaquina Bay. Now you will see that matters had worked to this point that the Indians were to have their way and control the agency or I was to have my way for their government. I told the Indians that all I required was that they should deposit their guns with me, that I would take care of them and let them have a gun whenever they wanted them for hunting purposes and would furnish them with ammunition, but when I saw Lt. Sheridan I told him that I desired to call a council of the Indians to talk with them about their future government and the propriety of giving up their arms and requested him to attend the council, which he refused to do, but said that he had held a council with them and told them all that was necessary to say to them, and when I learned that what I had told the Indians and what he had told them was directly opposite, I felt hurt, but believing that I was the proper person to decide how they should be managed, and knowing that they could be disarmed without any difficulty, I called upon him for a portion of his command for that purpose, which he refused to grant. Again he says, "After receiving my note he armed four or five of his employees [and] called a council of the chiefs [and] spoke to them in an inflammatory and hostile manner and finally told them that he would go and bring my command up." Now I do most solemnly declare and have plenty of proof to sustain me that there was not one word spoken to the Indians about the soldiers that day, neither was there a threat made to punish them, nor was there an Indian on the premises who knew that I had called upon Sheridan for assistance. I requested Mr. Henry to take the note down quietly to the Lt. without saying a word either to the whites or Indians, which he did. Now he says after his official refusal that I threatened the Indians with the troops, and that this latter threat induced the Indians to give up nearly all of their guns, thus making himself  the great bugaboo which the Indians so much dreaded. The fact here is I paid some of the principal men to give up their arms, and the rest with a few exceptions gave theirs up without opposition. Again he said, "This morning I again called on him when he informed me that it was his intention not to issue any more rations to the Indians until they had given up their guns, and that the consequence &c." Here he has again labored to make a false impression; he would have the Department believe that I said I would not issue rations to any of the Indians, which is not so. Here is what I said, that those whom I knew to have arms in their possession and refused to give them up, that I would not issue rations to them, who only numbered about six or eight out of the Indians at this agency. I said to him that there might probably some difficulty grow out of my refusal to issue to these six or eight persons and if so that I should defend myself and property. He alleges that which is false when he says that I said I would "pitch into them and kill as many as I could." I challenge the world to show a single instance in which I have threatened to harm any person or thing unless in defense of myself or property. Again notice the spleen in the last of his letter of the 15th April, which I have shown to be a false representation to gratify a personal dislike for me. He says, "My conduct to a great extent has destroyed the good feeling with which the Indians came to the Siletz Agency." This is not so; the Indians stated on their arrival here that as the soldiers had gone to the Yaquina that they would come here, and when the soldiers came here that they would go back to the Yaquina, thus you see that they told me one story and Sheridan another. They have always told me that they were unwilling to make this their homes and desired to return to their native country; all of which I most respectfully submit.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        for W.&O.T.
            Salem O.T.
P.S. Please notify me if it will be necessary for the depositions of my witnesses to accompany my report .
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1179-1192.




Sir,
    By last night's mail I received a copy of your spoliation claim against Rogue River Indians, amounting to $3478.75, together with sundry slips of paper written upon in relation to various subjects. I also received a copy of Geo. E. Cole's claim for spoliation together with the letters of Geo. H. Jones. As there appears to be no particular instructions as to what you desire done with these papers, I will retain them on file in this office until further instructions are received from you.
    In relation to your request that I should prevent Mr. Jones from acting under the authority of a certain power of attorney which you gave him, I must decline any interference in the matter, as anything that I might say would have no influence in preventing Mr. Jones from acting while he is invested with your legal authority by power of attorney, which I have no power to revoke. Mr. Jones is now absent, having left for the States some time since. I would suggest that you need entertain no fears in relation to Mr. Jones drawing any funds from the Treasury on your claims at present, as there are no appropriations made for such objects.
Hiram Smith Esq.
    Jacksonville O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 6; Letter Books E:10, pages 391-392.




Sir,
    Enclosed I have the honor to submit my annual estimates for the fiscal year commencing on the 1st of July 1858.
    As you will observe, these estimates are of two classes, one for fulfilling treaty stipulations, amounting to forty-seven thousand, nine hundred and fifty dollars, and the other for objects not provided for by treaty stipulations, amounting to four hundred and eighty-four thousand, seven hundred dollars, making the aggregate amount estimated for for the year five hundred and thirty-two thousand six hundred and fifty dollars.
    By reference to former appropriations for treaty purposes, you will observe that I have included larger amounts for compensation of smiths, teachers, physicians, farmers and other employees provided for by treaty stipulations than have been heretofore made. I find this necessary as competent persons cannot, and have not, been found who would render the services for the amounts appropriate, rendering it necessary to make up the deficiency in their compensation out of some other fund. In relation to the amount estimated for for purposes not provided for by treaty stipulations, I have only to say that it is much lower than the different agents have required by their respective estimates. The amount estimated for will be absolutely necessary for the relief of the most urgent wants of the Indians within this Superintendency, and is based upon the supposition that hostilities will not be again resumed. In the event that the Indians do again become hostile (of which there are many indications), a much larger amount will be required.
    I desire to call your attention particularly to the items for erection and completion of mills at the Siletz and Grand Ronde reservations. If my requisitions are answered, large crops will be put in at those points--the wheat raised will be useless without mills with which to manufacture it into flour.
    With reference to the treaties which have been made with the different tribes in the two Territories which remain unratified, I desire to say that if those treaties are ratified, additional appropriations will be required for their execution, and [I] would respectfully refer you to the estimate made for that purpose by late Superintendents Stevens and Hedges and submitted to Congress in the supplemental estimates of the Indian Service by Hon. R. McClelland on the 16th of Jany. last.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affrs.
            Washington City
                D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 675-678.  Estimates of funds not transcribed.



Sir,
    Enclosed I have the honor to submit my requisitions for treaty funds due the Indians within this Superintendency, amounting in the aggregate to forty-three thousand and seventy dollars.
    I make my requisition early, as it is absolutely necessary that those Indians should be supplied with their annuity goods before the winter sets in.
    I trust that the whole amount now due these tribes will be remitted at once, as that course will save them from great suffering during the winter, and do much towards strengthening their disposition to remain on friendly terms with the whites.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affrs.
            Washington City D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 694-702.  Requisition figures not transcribed.




Sir,
     In obedience to the regulations of the Indian Department, I submit my first annual report.
    The accompanying reports of agents will exhibit detailed statements of the condition of Indian affairs within their respective agencies.
    Under the provisions of the act of Congress of March 3rd 1857, uniting Washington and Oregon Territories in a single Superintendency, I assumed the duties of the office in Oregon Territory on the 1st day of May last, and in accordance with instructions from late Commissioner Manypenny, bearing date March 18th.
    After reporting upon the condition of Indian affairs in this Territory, I proceeded to Olympia and on the 2nd of June relieved Governor Stevens and assumed the duties of the office in Washington Territory.
    The union of the two Territories has thrown an amount of business upon this office sufficient to occupy my entire attention and utterly precludes the practicability of my giving any time to the personal supervision of the duties of agents by visiting them or the tribes under their charge. The recent and general state of hostilities existing in both Territories, and the necessary means adopted by my predecessors in each Territory for the restoration of peace, has necessarily and directly tended to complicate our relations with the Indians and renders the duties of the Superintendent more arduous and difficult than they had been at any time previous to the general outbreak.
    Previous to the hostilities of 1855, the few collisions with the Indians had been with detached and isolated tribes or bands, without any attempt on their part to confederate their forces for the purpose of common hostilities. While some of those collisions have doubtless grown out of, and have to some extent been induced by, the vicious and reckless conduct of a few unscrupulous white men, for whose conduct the mass of the community can in no way be held responsible, the facts and history of what has been characterized as "forays" will, in nearly every instance, clearly demonstrate that the Indians have been the aggressors and that the whites have acted on the defensive. This is particularly true of the hostilities of 1855, which in its details gives abundant evidence of a well-matured and preconcerted plan of action by the formation of an alliance of all the principal tribes inhabiting the country from California to the British possessions.
    This outbreak was long predicted, and the whites in different sections of the country were frequently admonished of their danger by friendly Indians.
    The first acts of hostility, in the murder of Bolon, Mattice and others in the Yakima country, was the signal for a general rising, in which the Indians, confident in their strength of numbers and advantages in an intimate knowledge of the country, expected to vanquish and exterminate what they regarded as their natural enemies.
    Of the history of the ensuing war and its various incidents you have been fully advised by the military, the Superintendents of Indian Affairs and the governors of the two Territories.
    While it is not my design to rewrite the history of the war, I desire to say that those who are so deluded as to entertain or give expression to the opinion that the war of 1855 was undertaken for the purpose of robbing or despoiling the Indians are greatly mistaken in their deductions from facts which warrant no such conclusions. Errors may and doubtless have been committed by both civil and military officers in their connection with the war, the palliation of which is no part of my duty. But he who deliberately asserts that the people of the two Territories abandoned their homes, neglected their private affairs and engaged in a contest with an overwhelming number of Indians, generally destitute of personal property, for the sake of plunder, betrays a credulity to be pitied.
    The result of the war evidently disappointed the sanguine expectations of both the whites and the Indians, as about an equal number of each fell in the various conflicts.
    The Indians, by superior numbers and the advantages of their peculiar mode of warfare, remained unconquered, and the result of the war tended to convince them that it could not be easily done; a sort of armistice was declared, and the Indians contiguous to the settlements, especially those belonging to the southern portion of Oregon, agreed to remove to the reservations, with the understanding that they should be subsisted by the government, whose agents negotiated the peace, and they are ready to take up arms and resume hostilities: whenever the government cease to comply with its part of the contract, practically offering the government the alternative of "feeding or fighting them." They have never been chastised for the outrages committed on our people, and with the exception of the loss and destruction of some of their personal property they have suffered but little by the war, while its results have emboldened them and tended to produce the impression in their minds that they have the ability to contend successfully against the entire white race.
    The effect of the late war has been to render the management of the Indians much more difficult than at any previous time.
    Their great numbers, intimate knowledge of the country, together with the scattered and defenseless state of the settlements, contributed to their success in their marauding and plundering expeditions; the provisions and cattle captured from the whites afforded them ample subsistence, both in quality and quantity, far superior to anything that they had at any previous time enjoyed, and as they have never been subdued it is but natural that they should be willing to resume hostilities when they have so much to gain and so little to lose.
    In fact, the southern Indians located on the Siletz are constantly telling the agent that they lost more by sickness last winter than they did in all of the preceding ten months' war and frequently say "it is your peace that is killing us."
    The policy of exercising a vigilant system of surveillance over the different and remotely situated bands and tribes of Indians was adopted by my predecessor, particularly in Washington Territory, and requires a large number of local and special agents for that purpose. The present appearance of things would not indicate that the services of these temporary agents could safely be dispensed with, and I would therefore desire to urge upon your attention the necessity of some legal provision for their permanent appointment.
    There should be at least six additional full agents and five sub-agents for the two Territories.
    The great number of Indians inhabiting the extensive country west of the Cascade Mountains and bordering upon Puget Sound, requires the constant and vigilant attention of at least three full agents and three sub-agents where there is now but a single agent regularly appointed by the government. When it is taken into consideration that the Sound of itself embraces over sixteen hundred miles of shoreline, occupied by ten thousand Indians whose management is rendered a hundredfold more difficult by reason of a sparse, widely scattered and defenseless white population living in their midst, I think that the necessity of an increase of agents will be apparent.
    I regard our relations with the Indians within this Superintendency, and especially in the neighborhood of Puget Sound, as resting upon a very precarious basis and the Indians liable at any moment and for the most trivial cause, to assume an attitude of open hostility.
    I cannot better illustrate their condition than by the following extracts from my report of the 16th of June last:
    Great evils are constantly resulting from the extensive sale of ardent spirits to the Indians.
    The different agents do all in their power to abolish this nefarious traffic, carried on by unprincipled white men, but I can see no way to accomplish its discontinuance so long as the whites and Indians occupy the entire country in common. Even the small reservations established by law, and where the intercourse laws ought to be enforced, are nearly destitute of military protection and the agents in charge left to their own resources in the management of their complicated and responsible duties.
    The land laws which permit the occupation and settlement of both Washington and Oregon Territories, regardless of the rights of the Indians, render the intercourse laws, practically, a nullity. Any man who has the least idea of Indian character in their barbarous and uncivilized state will not be long in arriving at a conclusion as to what would be the result of their living with and occupying the country in common with the whites.
    This anomalous condition of things embarrassed the officers of the Department here at every step and renders an increase of agents absolutely necessary to guard and protect the rights of the Indians and prevent constant collisions between them and their white neighbors.
    It is useless to talk about pacifying the Indians and cultivating friendly relations with them on any permanent basis so long as they are recognized by the government as having rights to the soil; while those rights remain unextinguished, they regard the government as ignoring them and look upon every white settler as an emissary sent here to rob and despoil them of what they claim as their inheritance.
    Even the treaties which have been made remain, with but few exceptions, unratified, and of the few that have been ratified, but few have been fulfilled.
    Those delays and disappointments, together with the unfulfilled promises which have been made to them, has had the effect to destroy their confidence in the veracity of the government agents, and now, when new promises are made to them for the purpose of conciliating their friendship, they only regard them as an extension of a very long catalogue of falsehood already existing.
    The extension and increase of white settlements is daily rendering our relations with them more difficult and would seem to indicate the necessity of some means for the separation of the two races.
    The present condition of things cannot last long, and some permanent policy must be speedily adopted by the government for the protection of the whites and subsistence of the Indians.
    As the lands of the latter are entirely occupied by the whites, their means of obtaining a living are greatly curtailed.
    The wants of those "untutored wards of the government" should be supplied and their rights protected, unless the government has determined that they should be doomed to extermination at the hands of the whites.
    I am aware of the difficulties which it would be necessary to overcome in order to separate the two races. The rapid encroachment of the white settlements on both sides of the Rocky Mountains leaves no country to which the Indians can be assigned without incurring the hostility of the present owners and occupants, and I see no way to ameliorate their condition and prolong their existence, except to collect them on reservations and give them a subsistence until such time as they can be induced to obtain it for themselves by agriculture.
    Whatever policy may finally be adopted in relation to these unfortunate people, I can assure you that none can be worse, or productive of more evil to both them and the whites, than the present joint and promiscuous occupation of the country, and so long as it is continued you may expect periodical reports of "Indian difficulties."
    The government having ratified the treaties with the Indians of the Willamette, the Umpqua and Rogue River valleys, those Indians have been collected and subsisted by the government at the Grand Ronde and Siletz (Coast Reservation).
    According to the census, there are two thousand and forty-nine at the Siletz, twelve hundred at the Grand Ronde and six hundred and ninety at the mouth of the Umpqua, making a total of three thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine, who are dependent on the government for their support.
    In addition to those, there are four remnants of tribes scattered along the coast south from the Columbia River to the neighborhood of Tillamook, who are under the charge of sub-Agent Raymond; they number two hundred and fifty-one souls and have received some little support from the government.
    In addition to the foregoing enumeration, I estimate that there are scattered along the coast in Oregon about two hundred and fifty Indians who have never been collected and taken to the reservations. Those are mostly lawless, wandering vagabonds, who live in the mountains engaged in plundering remote settlements as opportunities occur.
    You will observe by the foregoing that the number of Indians in Oregon west of the Cascade Mountains amount in the aggregate to four thousand three hundred and forty, and I think that the enumeration can be relied on as very nearly accurate.
    According to the most recent and reliable estimates, the total number of Indians in Oregon is eleven thousand eight hundred and in Washington Territory twenty-one thousand seven hundred and twelve, making the total of Indians within this Superintendency thirty-three thousand five hundred and twelve.
    At the Grand Ronde and Siletz, as you will observe by the reports of agents Miller and Metcalfe [reports of July 15 and 20, above], extensive improvements have been made in the way of fencing, breaking land and putting up buildings for the use and comfort of the tribes located at these points.
    The expenses of those improvements have been necessarily large, resulting in part from the high price of labor on this coast and in part from the system that has been pursued by the Department of withholding funds and compelling the agents to make their purchases on credit at prices much higher than they could be made for cash.
    But little will be realized this year from the crops put in upon the reservations, as the ground is new and the season, owing to the drought, remarkably unfavorable.
    The Indians will therefore require the continued assistance of the government until they are in a condition to raise something for themselves. By receiving the necessary encouragement and assistance from the government, those people may, in the course of a few years, be enabled to raise sufficient to supply their wants, but so far as their ultimate civilization or Christianization is concerned, I am convinced that all such ideas are Utopian and impracticable.
    The sources from which they are expected to receive those blessings contain the elements of their destruction, and it is a melancholy fact that the Indians within this Superintendency who have been brought in the most direct contact with the whites, and who have had the best opportunities of observing the benefits of civilization, have profited the least by such advantages. They have acquired all the vices of the white man without any of his virtues, and while the last fifteen years has witnessed the most frightful diminution in their numbers, their deterioration, morally, physically and intellectually, has been equally rapid. Starvation, disease and bad whiskey combined is rapidly decimating their numbers and will soon relieve the government of their charge.
    The region of country east of the Cascade Mountains is daily becoming of more importance to the whites, by reason of the discovery of gold in its northern limits and its being traversed by the great thoroughfares leading to the States. Our people are being continually brought in contact with its Indian occupants, which compose several numerous and warlike tribes. In order to maintain friendly relations with them, and prevent constant difficulties, requires the presence of several reliable agents.
    The treaties negotiated with those interior tribes never having been ratified, they are averse to the occupation of their country by white settlers, and every endeavor has been made to prevent intrusion upon their lands until such time as the government shall decide upon the disposition to be made of the treaties.
    In order to relieve and quiet their apprehensions in relation to the occupation of their country by our people, I directed Agent Lansdale, on his trip to the Flathead country, to explain to them the failure of the government to comply with its promises by reason of the non-ratification of the treaties and to assure them that their lands should not be taken from them without receiving a fair compensation. They were also informed that until those treaties were ratified they could expect nothing from the government in the shape of annuities or subsistence.
    I would recommend that steps be taken to throw open the Walla Walla Valley to settlement. It is an advanced point in the interior, which if occupied would protect and increase the facilities for an overland communication with the States. The Walla Walla is a rich valley, unsurpassed in its qualities as a grazing country, and a desirable locality for a white settlement. It has already been purchased by the treaties made by Governor Stevens and late Superintendent Palmer with the Cayuses and Nez Perces.
    As the treaties have never been ratified, the country is not considered open to settlement. I understand that the Indians express some dissatisfaction at those treaties, which may render their modification necessary.
    The only portion of the country east of the Cascade Mountains now occupied by our citizens is that in the immediate vicinity of the Dalles, on the south side of the Columbia River.
    This country belongs to the Indians who were parties to the treaty of the 25th of June 1855; they have been great sufferers by reason of the occupation of their country by the whites and have never received any compensation. I would therefore earnestly recommend that the treaty entered into between those people and late Superintendent Palmer on the 25th of June 1855 be immediately ratified and funds appropriated for its execution.
    The treaty referred to is liberal in its provisions; the Indians who are parties to it have exhibited good faith towards our government. They have been deprived of their lands, and the United States having received all the benefits of the treaty, I think that justice, as well as good policy, should induce the government to comply with their part of the contract.
    I would also earnestly recommend that the treaties negotiated by Governor Stevens with the Indians in Washington Territory west of the Cascade Mountains be ratified as speedily as possible, as it will be difficult to restrain the Indians who are parties to those treaties much longer by mere promises.
    A treaty was negotiated by late Superintendent Palmer on the 11th of August 1855 with the various tribes inhabiting the coast from the mouth of the Columbia River southward to the California line. Those tribes were confederated by the treaty referred to and consist of the Tillamooks, Coos Bay, Coquille, Tututnis, Chetco, Siuslaws, Clatsops and Lower Umpqua Indians. A portion of those people have already been moved to the reservation, while others remain upon their original lands. Much of their lands have been taken and occupied by the whites, and I would recommend that the treaty made with them by late Superintendent Palmer be ratified.
    The Chehalis and Cowlitz Indians claim a large and valuable district of country in the heart of the settled portion of Washington Territory, between the Columbia River and Puget Sound. They have never been treated with, but are anxious to sell their country. I would recommend that a treaty be concluded with them for the extinguishment of their rights to the soil.
    My own observation in relation to the treaties which have been made in Oregon leads me to the conclusion that in most instances the Indians have not received a fair compensation for the rights which they have relinquished to the government. It is too often the case in such negotiations that the agents of the government are overanxious to drive a close bargain, and when an aggregate amount is mentioned it appears large, without taking into consideration that the Indians in the sale and surrender of their country are surrendering all their means of obtaining a living, and when the small annuities come to be divided throughout the tribe, it exhibits but a pitiful and meager sum for the supply of their individual wants. The Indians receive so little for the great surrender which they have made [and] begin to conclude that they have been defrauded; they become dissatisfied and finally resort to arms in the vain hope of regaining their lost rights, and the government spends millions in the prosecution of a war which might have been entirely avoided by a little more liberality in their dealings with a people who have no very correct notions of the value of money or property. A notable instance of this kind is exhibited in the treaty of September 10th 1853 with the Rogue River Indians. That tribe has diminished more than one-half in number since the execution of the treaty referred to. They, however, number at present nine hundred and nine souls. The country which they ceded embraces nearly the whole of the valuable portion of the Rogue River Valley, embracing a country unsurpassed in the fertility of its soil and value of its gold mines, and the compensation which those nine hundred and nine people now living receive for this valuable cession is "forty thousand dollars, in sixteen equal annual installments of two thousand five hundred dollars each," a fraction over two dollars and fifty cents per annum to the person, which is the entire means provided for their clothing and sustenance.
    When those Indians look back to the valuable country which they have sold, abounding, as it does, with fish and game and rich gold fields, it is but natural that they should conclude that the $2.50 per annum was a poor compensation for the rights they relinquished. It is true that the government can congratulate itself upon the excellence of its bargains, while the millions of dollars subsequently spent in subduing those people has failed to convince them that they have been fairly dealt with.
    I desire to call your attention to the fact that a large and constantly increasing number of claims for indemnification for spoliations committed by the different tribes in Oregon and Washington Territories during the existence of the difficulties within the last two years have accumulated in this office. Those claims have been submitted by our citizens with the general understanding that the general government would indemnify them for losses sustained by reason of its failure to reciprocate their allegiance by that protection which they, as American citizens, claim that they have a right to demand at the hands of their government.
    The persons who have been sufferers by the hostilities of the Indians in the two Territories have been legally in the country, having been invited by the government to settle the country; the protection of the government is impliedly promised.
    Many of those persons who now present claims for indemnification had, by long years of toil and patient endurance of all the hardships and deprivations incident to frontier life, accumulated a competence for their declining years, imagining themselves secure in their possessions under the protection of their government, but the hostilities of 1855 swept them of their hard earnings and has left them to languish in the most abject want and penury. Many of them are aged, while others are widows and orphans, deprived of their natural protectors at the same time and by the same hand that robbed and despoiled them of their property.
    If there ever was a meritorious class of claimants for indemnification it is those persons, and I desire to urge that some means be adopted to compensate them for their losses.
    The 17th section of the act of Congress of June 30th 1834 is wholly inapplicable to this class of claims. That act provides that claims for Indian spoliations shall, under the direction of the President, be first submitted to the nation or tribe who committed the depredations for satisfaction, and if such nation or tribe shall neglect or refuse to make satisfaction in a reasonable time, not exceeding twelve months, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent, agent, or sub-agent to make returns of his doings to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, that such further steps may be taken as shall be proper, in the opinion of the President, to obtain satisfaction for the injury.
    The act also guarantees to the party injured an eventual indemnification by the United States.
    No claim for property stolen or destroyed ever, to my knowledge, been presented to any of the tribes within this Superintendency for their action.
    Any such presentation to the tribes would be a piece of useless folly, for the reason that in most instances it is not known, in the general state of war which existed, what identical tribe or band committed the outrages complained of; in many instances the perpetrators are dead or still hostile, and those who survive, and have been reduced to submission, are not disposed to acknowledge any of their crimes and in every instance would deny their participation and refuse to assent to indemnification.
    Even if they should make the admission of their crimes and declare their willingness to make reparation, it is totally beyond their ability to perform. Those Indians with whom we have treaties are themselves in a state of starvation and destitution, and their annuities would not pay one cent on the dollar for the property they have destroyed.
    I would therefore recommend that means be adopted for the relief of those sufferers and claimants upon the justice and magnanimity of Congress.
    There should be an appropriation made to pay the claims as they are presented, and if any doubt exists as to their justice, a commission might be appointed to investigate them.
    The greatest embarrassment has been experienced within this Superintendency for the last year for the want of funds; the outstanding and unpaid claims against the Department, amounting to over four hundred thousand dollars, has totally destroyed its credit, and persons who have rendered service and furnished supplies begin to conclude that they never will be paid.
    The natural result of this delay in remitting funds has tended to embarrass the officers here and made it necessary to pay more for supplies, in depreciated government promises, than the same purchases could be made for in cash. It is hoped that these embarrassments may be speedily relieved.
    The treaty negotiated in 1855 with the Flathead Indians should be confirmed; their country is the thoroughfare of good routes from the northwestern states to the Columbia Valley. They were parties to the Blackfeet council and the treaty which provides compensation only for the Blackfeet, leaving the Flatheads to be compensated by their own special treaty.
    The Flatheads have constantly observed the provisions of the Blackfeet treaty and from time immemorial have been firm in their friendship for our people.
    During the recent Indian difficulties they evinced every disposition to comply with the wishes of the government and often declared to the agent that they would not harbor the hostiles in their country. It is their boast that they have never shed the blood of the white man.
    Good faith towards them requires the prompt confirmation of the treaty, which is also called for as an efficient and indispensable means to maintain their peaceable disposition.
    I am of the opinion that, with the confirmation of the treaty and the presence of a reliable agent, those Indians can be easily managed. The experiment, fairly tried, of teaching them the usages of civilized life, and with the necessary safeguards thrown around them against the mischievous influences always attending the advance of our settlements into an Indian country when measures have not been taken to separate the two races, I think will result in their permanent benefit.
    The treaties negotiated in 1855 with the Nez Perces, Walla Wallas, Cayuses, Umatillas and Yakimas I regard as of great importance with reference to the policy to be adopted by the government in relation to these great interior tribes.
    No treaties have yet been ratified with the Spokanes and other tribes bordering on our northern boundary east of the Cascade Mountains. The discovery of gold mines in that region will bring our people in direct contact with those Indians, and I think that the Superintendent should be authorized to negotiate treaties with them.
    It is said that a large colony of Mormons from Salt Lake have established themselves on Salmon River, within this Superintendency, that they are supplying the Indians with arms and ammunition and inciting them to hostilities. I have no positive information on the subject as yet, but have taken steps to ascertain the facts relative thereto, and when I am advised will report accordingly.
    It is but proper that I should state that the Indians who committed the first act of hostilities in the cold-blooded and inhuman murder of sub-Agent Bolon are still running at large.
    In an interview which I had with Brig. Genl. Clarke, commanding this Department, at the Dalles on the 30 of June, I urged upon him the necessity of an immediate demand upon the Yakima tribe for the surrender of those murderers. From the tenor of the General’s remarks at the time, I was led to conclude that the demand would be promptly made; subsequently, under date of July 2nd, I received a letter from the Genl., asking me to submit my views on the subject in writing.
    I herewith transmit copies of the correspondence. I have to regret the view the General has taken of the matter, especially as a temporizing policy is poorly calculated to inspire respect in the minds of the Indians; knowing that there was a large military force in the interior, I had hoped that a different policy would be adopted.
    There are still a few vagabond and outlaw Indians lurking about in the mountains contiguous to the Umpqua and Rogue River valleys; they were desperadoes who originally refused to surrender and remove to the reservations, and the character of the country which they inhabit renders them more difficult to find than ever the Indians of Florida were. They are constantly pouncing upon the exposed settlements, killing stock, robbing and burning houses and murdering the occupants. The location and marauding character of those Indians render them capable of inflicting great injury upon the whites, and it is feared that they will form a nucleus around which the late hostile Indians upon the Siletz will rally, if they put in execution their oft-repeated threats of leaving the reservation.
    Every effort has been made by this office to induce those hostiles to come to terms of submission. A special agent has been dispatched and is now in their country for the purpose of securing and removing them to the reservation. I have little hopes of his success and see no way that the settlers in those infested neighborhoods can rid themselves of the nuisance, unless they can hit upon some mode for their extermination, a result which would occasion no regrets at this office.
    A remnant of the Chetco and Pistol River Indians, who refused to emigrate to the reservations with the bodies of their tribes, are creating some difficulty in the southwestern portion of the Territory. I enclose herewith copies of the correspondence with Capt. Tichenor relative thereto. [See letters of August 3 and 11, above.]
    The Indians within this Superintendency have no correct knowledge of the power and extent of the United States and regard each of the immigrating parties of whites they see occasionally passing through their country as a distinct and entire tribe. Some of them entertain the notion that the entire white tribe has immigrated to this coast and that if they could succeed in exterminating or driving them out of their country that they never would be subjected to a similar annoyance from the same source. In view of this mistaken notion entertained by them, I would suggest the propriety of provision being made for a few of the chiefs of the principal tribes to visit the States for the purpose of witnessing the extent and power of the American people.
    I am satisfied that a few thousand dollars expended in this way would have a salutary influence in their future management and be productive of much more benefit to them and our government than twice the amount spent for powder and ball.
    Many of them express an anxiety to make the trip, and I would earnestly recommend that means be taken to gratify their desires.
    It affords me pleasure to be able to report that the different agents and employees within this Superintendency appear to be animated with a proper zeal for the public service and do all in their power to comply with the requirements of the government.
    In conclusion, I beg to call your attention to the necessity which exists for dividing this Superintendency into three Superintendencies. While the two Territories formed each a superintendent district, there was ample business for two Superintendents.
    Thirty thousand Indians, in the condition of the Indians of this Superintendency, are more than a single Superintendent can properly manage. I would therefore recommend that the district be divided into three separate Superintendencies, as follows: one Superintendent for Oregon, west of the Cascade Mountains, and one for Washington Territory, west of the Cascade Mountains; the country east of those mountains in both Territories should be erected into a separate Superintendency.
    The Indians in the latter district are very different in their character and habits from those west of the mountains and require the constant and vigilant attention of a Superintendent.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Indian Affairs
            Washington City
                D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 704-741.



    Winding through the forests, over hills and mountains, along the shore of the "sounding sea," and across patches of open country, grandiloquently styled prairies by the people of the territories, for the distance of two hundred miles out and back, I find myself at length in this seaport town awaiting the arrival of the down steamer.
    My last was dated at Coos Bay, which point formed the terminus of my upward journey. Leaving the place we plunge again into a little strip of forest, of thirty miles in extent, uninhabited except by the birds and animals, fashioned by nature to make it their home. For fourteen miles, the forest is dead; that is to say, some cause, natural or otherwise, has killed the trees to a vast extent in this portion of Oregon, and you ride for miles and miles in many directions with nothing on either hand but ghostly pines, rearing their white bare trunks and leafless branches into the air, and mourning a dreary requiem in the passing breeze, for their departed glory. Wind and fire often sweep through these desolate isles, and here and there they come crashing down, forced at length to yield, and bow their heads that for ages have buffeted the fury of the storm, and mocked at its wrath as it swept over their lofty crests.
    The trail through this dead timber becomes a lonely one, and great is the relief when you enter the dark green arches of the living forest, even though the sunlight only gleam here and there through chinks and crannies in the thick and umbrageous foliage that is so compactly piled above you. It does not give rise to so agreeable a sensation, however, to come across a gang of Indians in these sequestered solitudes, especially when you know that their presence there forebodes wars and rumors of wars that are to come out of the future. Riding along through the winding trail, we suddenly came upon a band of Indians numbering some thirty in all, who had escaped from the Umpqua Reservation, and were on their way back to their old grounds on the Coquille or Rogue rivers. The squaws were heavily packed with all the paraphernalia of Indian life, some of them bearing loads that would have brought groans from a patient mule. The men, or "bucks," as they are commonly styled here, were armed with guns, with the exception of one or two ancient gentlemen, who could only carry their own corporeal infirmities, without being overburdened with arms. Had we come suddenly upon a brood of grouse, I doubt if they would have exhibited greater powers of locomotion than did the " bucks" of this band. They disappeared in the thick underbrush that lined the trail, as suddenly as a young partridge will find a place to secrete his little form, and when we came up to the spot where we saw them a few seconds before, there was nothing left but the squaws with their heavy loads, with which they were unable to seek hiding places, and two or three decrepit old fellows, who, to all external appearances, were antediluvian in their origin. It gives rise to some peculiar fancies to ride through a forest trail, knowing that the muzzles of a dozen or two rifles are looking out on you through the leaves, and under the capricious control of a set of barbarous Indians at that, whose hand is raised against every man with a skin white enough to entitle him to the rank of a "Boston" in their vocabulary; and affords ample opportunity to think upon the uncertainty of human affairs, especially in an Indian country. There is no opportunity for a heroic demonstration, and valor is of but little worth in such a case. A judicious application of the spur to the ribs of the animal you bestride, and as much coolness and nonchalance as you are capable of expressing upon your countenance, I consider to be about as wise a panacea for the safe extrication from a similar dilemma, as any that can be adopted. Such was our course, and we passed by unmolested.
    Seriously speaking, these Indians are coming off the Reservation in large squads, in the face and eyes of the penalty they were told would be enforced upon them, when first put there, if they dared again come back--namely, that of death. They are wending their way back, then, in the face of this death penalty, knowing that it must be war to the knife, and they or the "Bostons" must one or the other "go under" in the contest. Indian massacres and outrages will again be chronicled, and the parsimonious policy of our government will, by its puny efforts, virtually sanction the proceeding. Instead of entering into vigorous measures to suppress now and for all time to come these Indian depredations, the same old policy will probably be pursued of sending a few regular troops into the forests to make a show of fighting, in the expectation of frightening these Indians into submission. A more ridiculous idea was never entertained by sensible men. The Indians of this region are not only brave and warlike, but they possess all the treachery, cunning and trickery that has always characterized the North American aborigines. The men of the frontier, whose days have mainly been spent in pushing on in the van of civilization, are the only people who can cope with them in combat--who can meet cunning with cunning, and stratagem with stratagem. Let Uncle Sam call into his service, here upon the soil, these men, furnish them with their outfit, and pay them for their services, and six months will not have passed away ere Indian wars will have been effectually done with in this section. And on the score of economy, the column of disbursements from our plethoric treasury will foot up much smaller than in the more expensive and absurd mode of employing regular troops in this species of warfare. For I know--and so must every sane man admit it--that the frontier man, with his deadly rifle, and other weapons, and his hard-earned experience, is worth twenty regulars, brave enough though they may be to march square up to the cannon's mouth in the battle fields of wars with Christian nations.
    At present, the people here are setting about providing for their own defense, as best they may, though they are by no means able to carry on defensive operations in such a manner as to hope for success unaided by government. And I look upon it as the first duty of the press, the people, and the representatives in Congress, of this whole Pacific Coast, to make this their most pressing demand upon the administration and before Congress, upon the score of humanity, as well as for what is due to us upon this side of the continent.
    Much has been written upon this subject, since the Indian wars in Oregon first commenced, and the opinions of military men, I am well aware, have been pretty generally made known to be in favor of employing regular troops in fighting these Indians. But in most of these instances, these opinions (expressed by Gen. Wool and others) have been given before having any active experience in their style of warfare. To anyone's mind it presents a plain question of common sense, rather than a problem to be demonstrated by military disquisition, and I look upon it as little less than criminal for military etiquette and nice quibbles to be pushed into the debate, when the lives of American people, men, women and children are the simple facts at issue in all the controversy, and while the wrangling is going on, they are the helpless victims of Indian barbarities. So far as the question of first aggression on the part of the Indians or white men is concerned, I shall not argue it here. It is enough for me to reassert the well-known axiom, that the two races cannot exist in harmony together, and in an age of the progress of civilization, it is simply ridiculous to hesitate for a moment as to which ought to be made to give way. From my soul I pity the hard lot of the son of the forest, but I cannot stay the march of civilization in its westward course, and the supplications of the brave-hearted women and children, who follow the strong men that form its vanguard, when the brand and tomahawk of these wild beings are doing their hellish work, is a stronger appeal to my sensibilities, than all the sickly sentimentality that is lavished upon the poor Indian. But I must get "out of the woods," and go on to tell you of the country here about.
    After leaving the forest, we take to the sea beach, and travel for miles along the shore, with the roaring surf breaking at our horses' feet and almost deafening us with its incessant noise. Crossing the Coquille, New River, Sixes, and the Elk rivers, we journey on, to the southward. The miners upon the sea beach, at the present time, are not numerous, but I am inclined to think they are doing very well, in most localities. The day does not seem to have arrived, however, for successful beach mining, or rather, for the practicing of some method for saving the fine particles of gold with which the sands of the sea shore here unquestionably abound. When the inventive genius of our country shall have developed some mode of doing this, we shall then see what a literal golden strand is ours, and what untold wealth is scattered over it.
    I have spun out this letter to a much greater length than I at first intended, and therefore I will wind up here, though there is much I would like to say further concerning matters and things in this region.
Daily Alta California, San Francisco, September 20, 1857, page 1






Sir
    Brigadier General Clarke, commanding, directs me to enclose you a copy of a letter from Captain Stewart, comdg. on the Umpqua, and a copy of the instructions issued thereon to the Captain.
    Good results can only be obtained in the management of the Indians by officers and agents acting with the same view of their duties and the same interpretation of laws governing the reservations.
    It is useless to keep troops on the borders of reservations to prevent the Indians from leaving, if the Indian agents, who from their opportunities get the earliest and most reliable information of movements actual or intended, do not promptly communicate with the military officer, and the interference of the military is mischievous if the agent permit the Indians to remove or teach them to believe that they are not bound by law or agreement to remain.
    The General wishes you to inquire into this case, and do what seems necessary to enable him to carry out the views of the Department.
    Please inform Captain Stewart of your action.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Indian Affairs
        Oregon & Washington, Salem, O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 231.



Sir
    Brigadier General Clarke has received your letter of Aug. 5th, and is fully aware of the impossibility of your efforts being fully successful in keeping the Indians on the reserve so long as the agent then takes such views of his duties or keeps you in ignorance of the movements of the Indians.
    He has sent your letter to the Superintendent as the best means of explaining the subject fully to him, and has asked the interposition of his authority to correct the mischief.
    In the meantime, he desires you to prevent the passage of all Indians from the reserve and to send back any body of northern Indians who may come down without authority from the agents above.
Capt. J. Stewart
    3rd Art. comdg.
        Fort Umpqua
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, enclosure to No. 231.






Col. Nesmith
    Superintendent of Indian
        Affairs of Oregon Territory
Sir,
    I wish to say a few words to you in regard of the returning of the Coquille Indians, of which you may be ignorant of. A part of the Coquille Indians returned to this river some few weeks ago, and the settlers have been waiting patiently for the removal of them. If they are not removed by government soon, in all probability the citizens will take it in hand themselves and if such should be the case I am inclined to think that the Indians will fare rather bad. The Indians as yet have not done any damage, but we know not at what time they may commence their depredations. We are not only living in dread of our property but our lives are also in danger. The whites are few at this time, and if they should commence their hostilities we would be as things are in rather a critical situation. It has been the opinion of some that the Indians has had encouragement to come or otherwise they would not. As for myself I am not able to say that they have been, but I know one thing: they are here, and they have and is creating considerable of excitement.
    It is a general wish of the citizens of this river that the Department look to these Indians as speedy as possible.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 244.



Dear Colonel
    I have received your official letter of the 23rd inst. and take the liberty of returning a hasty reply. I thank you for the great desire you manifest to have the Rankin & Rudolph beef account paid and I now see from the extract you furnished that you feel restrained from paying or causing it to be paid until after it shall have been reported to the Commissioner.
    I am perfectly willing to take this course, though it may prove as protracted as a suit in Chancery! You know the boys at Washington are not of the "Young America" nor of the rapid order. They belong to the "tight barnacle family" and are all in the "circumlocution office"! They are principally engaged in a desperate effort of "how not to do it"! However, in this instance Townsend has taken up the beef. Cain has receipted for it. Townsend has legal affidavits of witnesses to the actual issue; Capt. Cain will duly report it to you, and I feel quite sure you will pass it along to the Commissioner in such a shape as will ensure its prompt payment.
    Am I asking too much when I ask you to recommend its speedy payment?
    You have doubtless received a letter on this subject from Gov. Stevens.
    Our commission expects to terminate its duties as such so that our report may go out on the incoming mail steamer. Capt. Smith will go to Washington.
    We, Col. Morris, Macfeely &c. would be happy to see you here.
    Col. Steptoe, commander of Walla Walla, is with me and would go up to see you if time permitted.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affairs
        Salem
            O.Ter.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 242.



Sir:
    I have the honor to receive this evening your letter of today, in reference to the murder by one of "John's" boys of a Siletz Indian, and requesting a sufficient force to enable you to arrest the murderer and to disarm John's band.
    Under the circumstances stated by you I cannot resist the conviction that your policy of disarming these refractory Indians is the correct one, and accordingly send Lieut. Genthy with a detachment of twenty-three men--all I have the means of mounting--and have thought that promptness would be perhaps as efficient as numbers. However, should you deem a larger force necessary--there will be fifty men there--Lieut. Garber has orders to send in the animals and I can send fifteen additional men.
To R. B. Metcalfe Esqr.
    Indian Agency
        Siletz Agency
            O.T.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 1177-1178.



Dear Sir
    Enclosed please find a bill of clothing required at this agency for Indians the treaties with whom have not been ratified. Winter is now just approaching, and a great portion of these people are truly in a destitute condition and will suffer greatly if they are not clothed. I therefore earnestly hope you will send me the entire bill by the return of the Mathavassa, or if she does not return send them by some conveyance that I may get them before the cold weather sets in.
To
    Col. J. W. Nesmith
        Supt. Ind. Affrs.
            Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 277.



Dear Sir
    About ten days since Old John and two of his boys started out with the declaration that their hearts were sick and that they were not going to stay here and die with sickness, that they had rather die by bullets and were evidently going down below where I had two or three men sowing wheat, to murder them, when they met two Siletz Indians, drew their revolvers and fired upon them, killing one of them on the ground, and when I called upon Old John to know why he did so he said that it was none of my business; that they would kill who they pleased, and when I asked Cultus Jim (Old John's son) for his revolver John sprang to his feet perfectly wild with rage, drew his revolver half out and told Jim to keep his revolver and fight with it. I then saw that he was determined on another outbreak, and that nothing would prevent it, but rigid and prompt measures on my part. I therefore sent an express to Capt. Augur for a force sufficient to disarm all the Indians on the reservation. When the troops arrived I called upon John for his arms, but he refused to give them up. I then requested Lt. Garber to accompany me with his detachment of twenty-five men with the view of arresting John and Cultus Jim and taking their arms from them, but when we arrived in sight of John's house he and his boys ran to the brush, and we were only able to get two small revolvers, which were given up by those who remained at the house. We then returned to our quarters disgusted with our success. The following day Cultus Jim came down to a camp near the agency, when Lt. Garber and myself went down to arrest him. He refused to be arrested and after making a desperate resistance drew a concealed revolver, ran on the opposite side of his horse from me and fired at me the ball passed near my head at which moment Sgt. Clark arrived, and he, Lt. Garber and myself fired upon him almost at the same instant, all three of the balls taking effect, killing him on the spot. Since that time the excitement has died away and the Indians have given up nearly all of their arms, say twenty guns, eight revolvers and seven other pistols. The Indians have promised to give up all of their arms which I think will be done in a few days.
Col. J. W. Nesmith
    Supt. Ind. Affrs.
        Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 261.  Metcalfe retold the story two weeks later in a letter to Joseph Lane.




Dear Sir,
    In my settlement with Orvil for flour I agreed to take that inferior flour at a reduced price, but I fear I have done wrong in taking it at any price. The most of it is tolerably fair, but about ten tons of it I propose to feed to stock this winter as it is unfit for Indians to eat. Now I most earnestly hope that is the last dealings we will have with them. They have caused me more anxiety than all of my other business since I have been connected with the Department. I will be in Salem on the 20th. I learn you have recd. funds and I am anxious to get enough to balance my account current. Please save ten or twelve thousand dollars for me. If you can, please pay Maj. Bruce; he is poor and has worked hard. The Indians are bringing in their arms every day. They brought in three rifles and two pistols yesterday and promised to bring two rifles and one dragoon revolver today. Everything is quiet now, and I think we may safely say that we have prevented an outbreak by taking this matter in hand before they were ready. The Indian that was killed is the man who struck the first blow on Evans Creek two years ago by murdering a man who was engaged putting up houses for them on the reservation and is the man who struck the first blow by killing Ben Wright at the coast.
To
    Col. J. W. Nesmith
        Supt. Ind. Affrs.
            Salem O.T.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 15; Letters Received, 1857, No. 258.



    Proceeding from Washington Territory, through Oregon, the party, after a journey of several days, reached the Grand Ronde Reservation, situated 30 miles from Salem, and about 25 from the coast. Here they called a council of the principal chiefs, and held a long talk over the affairs of the various tribes. Here are collected about one thousand Indians, comprising a small part of the Rogue Rivers, the confederated tribes of Umpquas and Calapooias, the Molallas, Willamettes etc. Only about forty out of the whole number are engaged at any kind of work. Notwithstanding all the difficulties encountered, however, the agent has built nearly one hundred houses, and laid under cultivation some 2320 acres of land, which would have aided materially in supporting them this winter, but for the drought and partial failure of the crops. No difficulty, however, is apprehended, as there is an ample supply of provisions on hand for their support.
    At the council, or wawa, the chief complained of bad faith on the part of government, in not paying them their annuities, also of the bad climate of the Grand Ronde, where they say they are all dying. This is true to some extent, owing to change of climate and the prevailing influenza, which has assumed a very malignant form at this place.
    Proceeding thence sixty miles, by the way of Fort Hoskins, the Siletz Reservation was next visited. This is quite a new place, and contains the largest body of Indians brought together in either Territory, consisting of the Rogue Rivers, Shastas and Coast Indians, as far south as Rogue River, under treaties, besides various other tribes with whom treaties have been made, but never ratified. Unlike the soil of the Grand Ronde, which is of a cold and poor quality, the Siletz embraces some of the best land in Oregon Territory, and is but six miles from the head of the navigable waters of the Yaquina Bay.
    Here another council was held, and the chiefs told their wrongs and grievances, all of which the special agent promised them he would faithfully report to their Great Father at Washington. They are desirous of going back to their native valleys on the Rogue River, and are generally dissatisfied with their present location. The whole system seems to be a cruel and monstrous evil, but civilization must take the precedence, and there is no remedy for it but to treat these poor beings with kindness and humanity when they behave themselves, and with the utmost severity and rigor upon the first symptom of an outbreak.
    The same may be said of the murderers of Wright, who are now going at large on the Siletz Reservation, fed and clothed at government expense. It was but recently that they held feasts and dances over the scalp, and but for the heroism and daring of the agent in taking the scalp from them, they would have continued their orgies to the present time.
    The chief causes of the war, which formed the principal subject for Mr. B.'s investigaitons, may be summed up in a few words: Previous to June, 1856, no steps had been taken to extinguish the Indian title to the Territory of Oregon. Congress then authorized the appointment of a commission to treat with the tribest west of the Cascades. The Donation Act of Sep. 27, 1850 followed this, and took effect long before a single treaty had been made. The commission made certain treaties at Champoeg, but gave the Indians some of the best lands in the Willamette Valley. The settlers protested, and the treaties were never ratified. At this time, the Klickitats had conquered all the inferior tribes of the Willamette Valley, and held a sort of possessory right as far south as the Calapooya Mountains. They were driven north of the Columbia, and no recompense was made them for the deprivation of the rights which they had acquired by conquest. They united with the Yakimas, who were equally disaffected, and finally spread the war feeling among the Sound Indians, the Cayuses, and Walla Wallas--all of whom were more or less apprehensive of being overcome by the whites.
    Leschi, the famous Nisqually chief, made speeches throughout the country, among the various tribes, and went as far south as Rogue River, to gain adherents. He it was who invented the terrible story of Polakly Illahee, or the Land of Darkness--a fearful place where he said the white men were going to send all the Indians; where the sun never shone, and where the mosquitoes were so big that a single bite would kill the strongest man.
    The Klickitats crossed the Cascades and concerted with the Rogue Rivers, Shastas and other powerful tribes, a general plan of warfare. Upon this point Mr. Browne has obtained the indubitable testimony of the tribes referred to, in the presence of numerous witnesses. The great Chief John not only acknowledged the combination, but stated that when he made peace he sent emissaries throughout the other tribes, telling them to stop fighting, as he had determined himself to fight no longer.
    The treaty of the 10th of September was the first ever made in the Territory which was ratified. Up to the date of the late war, no steps taken had ever been approved in the attempts to extinguish the Indian title. Under the Donation Act, which reserved no rights in the Indians as in the preemption act of '54, which followed it, the lands of the Indians were occupied and taken away from them without recompense. It was an unusual and impolitic system on the part of Congress, and to this may be attributed all the difficulties which have since arisen, and which have resulted in an enormous debt.
    Great injustice has been done the people of Oregon and Washington in the reports of the military made through the War Department. Whatever misconduct there may have been in individual cases, the great mass of the people were driven to war for their self-protection, and it is greatly to be regretted that they were not sustained by the chief of the military forces.
    The war debt is a just debt, if ever there was one; the commissioners have faithfully performed their duty; and it is to be hoped that the next Congress by its prompt action will rectify the errors of public policy which have resulted so disastrously, and make such liberal appropriations as may be necessary to liquidate a just debt, and prevent a recurrence of the great evils which have prostrated these remote Territories.
J. Ross Browne, "Indian Affairs in Oregon and Washington Territories," Pioneer and Democrat, Olympia, Washington Territory, November 6, 1857, page 1



    KLAMATH LAKE.--The company of prospectors attracted to Klamath Lake by the report of gold discoveries in that vicinity have returned to Jacksonville for reinforcements, and are making arrangements for another expedition. The Herald of Oct. 10th says:
    "They report very favorable appearances for gold, and also large tracts of arable and pasture lands. The Indians are quite numerous, numbering in Lalake's tribe some seven hundred warriors, and possess some fine herds of cattle and horses. They appeared somewhat dissatisfied with the intrusion of the whites. The company will rendezvous at Cottonwood today, for a return with about twenty additional recruits, among whom are Judge Snelling, of Yreka, Chief Lalakes, and several gentlemen from this place."
Sacramento Daily Union, October 19, 1857, page 2



Sir
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt by the last mail of acting Commissioner Charles E. Mix's communication of September 1st.
    The Treasury warrants for $105,683.67/100 were received and the whole amount will in the course of a few days be disbursed on account of liabilities already incurred for the last quarter. I am unable to comprehend why it is that I am particularly instructed to apply these funds for general purposes exclusively to the expenses of the 3rd & 4th quarters of 1857, while in Oregon Territory at least three-fourths of the indebtedness of the 2nd quarter remains unpaid, owing to the inadequacy of the former remittance for that purpose. Whatever excuse there may be for a refusal to remit funds to pay liabilities contracted by my predecessors, I have not been informed why the necessary funds for current expenses have been withheld from myself.
    The late remittances applicable to general purposes in Washington Territory will, I think, if peace should continue, be nearly sufficient for the purposes for which they are applicable, in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the present year but still leaving unpaid the large amounts of outstanding liabilities in the Territory, previously reported to you and contracted by the late Gov. and Superintendent Stevens.
    In Oregon Territory, however, things are different; large bodies of Indians are collected and guarded upon the reservations, and as I have frequently informed you they must be subsisted and in order to do so will require large additional remittances and at least equal to the estimates which I have furnished you. By reference to those estimates for the service in Oregon you will observe, to say nothing of the debts contracted by my predecessors, that there is a very great discrepancy between the sums estimated for and the sums remitted.
    The Department is very largely in debt in this Territory on account of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and not a dollar of the present remittance will be left from the 3rd quarter applicable to the 4th.
    You must be aware that when payment is made for any particular service or article, that vouchers should include the entire amount of the specified service or purchase and that it is extremely difficult for agents to render their accounts at the termination of a quarter when the funds placed in their hands are only sufficient to pay a fraction of the expenses incurred.
    In thus remitting dribbling sums, applicable only to particular quarters and none other, you have inadvertently hit upon the most direct and certain method of embarrassing the different agents in their accounts and raising just complaints on the part of claimants because they are not paid according to priority.
    I have again to urge that funds be forwarded to pay off these liabilities. I can see no use in my wasting time to prepare estimates if they are to be disregarded in making remittances. I had supposed that they were intended for some practicable purpose and consequently spent some time in preparing them, which it seems might have been employed for some more useful purpose.
    I fully appreciate all that Mr. Mix says in his communication with reference to "economy"; at the same time I am unable to see the necessity of this constant reiteration of "rigid economy," while the Department is steadily pursuing the most direct means to defeat any effort of the kind by withholding funds and compelling the officers of the Department here to conduct the business on ruined, depreciated, and what the community have begun to regard as worthless, promises.
    There is no use in disguising the fact, the officers here are at the mercy of the community who supply what is bought, and no man furnishes supplies without taking the risk of being kept out of his pay for a year or two. To suppose that the laws which govern trade will make exceptions in favor of what is here a proverbial non-paying Indian Department is anticipating something not very likely to occur.
    When good and valid demands against the Department for supplies furnished and labor performed from one to two years ago are freely offered at from twenty to thirty percent discount, it can hardly be expected that purchases on credit can now be made as low as for cash. Besides, after this non-paying policy has forced and does daily force us to purchase on credit, and the supplies have been consumed by the Indians, it strikes me as a little too late to talk about ''rigid economy." Such economy is and always will be a burlesque on the term.
    While I have made every effort to retrench the expenses of the service, I am fully satisfied that to even talk of economy under the present credit system is a farce.
    The Indians, as I have before and so often stated, must be fed, and it cannot be half done. If their wants are not supplied so as to keep them alive they will help themselves, and then we will have war, open, bloody and relentless war, based upon "economy."
    The only means by which economy can be practiced here is first to inspire confidence in the Department by paying off the outstanding indebtedness contracted by my predecessors and since the expiration of their terms.
    If you have not confidence in the officers here and can trust nothing to either their honesty or discretion, remove them and appoint others in whom you can repose confidence, and furnish the necessary funds upon their estimates in advance of each quarter, which will enable them to pay for their supplies as they purchase them, you will then have a vigilant and efficient system at less than the present expenses.
    The greatest misapprehensions have existed at Washington in relation to Indian affairs within this Superintendency. Those efforts at "rigid economy" by the refusal of funds necessary to conduct the business have paralyzed everything connected with the Department here and have been the great moving cause of all our Indian troubles and expensive wars.
    Within the last two years the people of Oregon and Washington Territories, according to a report of the war commissioners authorized by the last Congress, have expended six millions of dollars in defending themselves and prosecuting wars against the Indians.
    It is estimated that during the same time the general government must have, in every way, expended four millions of dollars here in military operations, thus making an aggregate of about ten millions of actual expenditures here in the prosecution of Indian wars in two years, to say nothing of the destruction of life and property suffered by our people.
    There is no intelligent man acquainted with the facts but what believes that the greater portion, if not nearly all, of this expense might have been avoided by the judicious expenditure of a few thousand dollars in money (not promises) for the employment of competent agents, and to comply with the promises made from year to year by what the Indians finally and very naturally, came to regard as a faithless government.
    The expenses which have grown out of what I conceive to be the bad policy of the government in attempting this sort of economy is not its worst feature. The Indians have been rendered unmanageable and desperate; they have learned the art of war and are now conscious of their ability to pursue it and stand ready to enforce their demands by force of arms. The practical result of the whole thing has been to expend ten millions of dollars (and circumstances rendered the expenditure unavoidable for our protection) to teach the Indians what were their rights and how to enforce them.
    It is true there are and have been other heavy expenses besides, and in addition to the actual finding of the Indians my predecessors in this Territory had inaugurated a policy of making farms and putting up houses for the permanent homes of the Indians and with a view of making the reservations, as your predecessor had directed, "self-sustaining."
    When I came into office this policy had been inaugurated and was in operation but not completed, as it could not very well be for some time to come. To have abandoned the system then would have involved the loss of all that had been previously commenced at such a heavy expense. My judgment approved of the plan, always looking to the end of ameliorating the condition of the Indians &c., finally inducing them to raise their own subsistence. I, therefore, continued what had been commenced and made my estimates regularly for the necessary funds, cherishing what appears to be the vain hope that funds would be furnished at least to meet the current liabilities.
    My own official acts have been based upon a continuation of the system adopted by my predecessors and approved by the Department at Washington. Something has been left to my discretion, and I have exercised it according to my best judgment and in the manner I thought best calculated to promote the welfare of the Indians, as well as the peace and quiet of the country.
    Inasmuch as the expenses of the system is now a subject of complaint, and Mr. Mix sees proper to charge that, "in consideration of the large amount of those liabilities, it is apprehended that a proper regard has not heretofore obtained for that careful economy so often urged upon my predecessors in the disbursements for the Indian service in Oregon and Washington Territories," I do not know how soon I may be considered by the Department as liable to the same imputation.
    I therefore would respectfully ask the Department for positive directions and instructions as to the plan it desires me to pursue.
    I would particularly ask if it desires me to pursue the system of "economy" to the extent of discharging the employees, stopping the improvements and to discontinue the feeding of the Indians. In my various reports I have tried to show the necessity of carrying out my own views; if my official superiors entertain other and different views, they have but to indicate what they are, and I shall attempt their execution, with a full consciousness that my present difficulties and embarrassments cannot well be increased.
    Acting Commissioner Mix doubtless finds it an easy task sitting in the office at Washington to write about the want of economy on the part of my predecessors in the disbursements of the public funds (he should have said the want of them). Perhaps if Mr. Mix had occupied the place of one of those predecessors, he might have found more difficulty in the discharge of the arduous duties then than he now does in questioning their honesty of purpose.
    In his communication of the 1st of September Mr. Mix remarks that "it is perceived, from the enclosures in your letter of the 10th of June, that you have taken bonds from local and special agents." If Mr. Mix had read my communication of the 10th of June he would have "perceived" that I had not taken bonds &c, as I distinctly stated that the bonds were as I found them in the office when Gov. Stevens turned it over to me. I have known that my communications to the Department had been treated with neglect, but this is the first evidence I have had of their not being read.
    In relation to the "outstanding accounts," contracted by my predecessors, I desire to inform you that it is utterly impossible for me to comply with Mr. Mix's requirements in relation to forwarding statements of their necessity &c.
    In my instructions from your predecessor, bearing date March 18th 1857, I am directed to forward "estimates" of those outstanding liabilities.
    The estimates were made out upon the reports of agents and forwarded on the 17th of June, together with all the information that I could procure in relation to them. Now, after a lapse of lour months, I am required to forward a statement of the circumstances under which they were contracted, together with evidence of their correctness &c. You are aware that this Superintendency extends from the northern line of California to the British possessions and from the Pacific Ocean to the summit of the Rocky Mountains.
    The claimants are scattered over this immense region. To travel about in quest of the evidence you require would take about two years, which time could not be well spared from the duties of the office; besides, it would involve the necessity of additional clerks, which have been denied me, to say nothing about notary publics &c., to authenticate the proofs. I have given notice, through the newspapers, to claimants to bring in their demands to the office and can only forward them, with such proof as the claimants may furnish. As an illustration of the losses sustained by individuals by reason of the nonpayment of those liabilities contracted by my predecessor, I desire to state the following notable instance, which is a fair type of the class: Two years ago a gentleman of this Territory, by the name of Pritchard, advanced to Superintendent Palmer about six thousand dollars in money--actual hard cash--to meet an emergency in the service when the country was involved in war. Supt. Palmer gave Mr. Pritchard drafts on the Department at Washington for the exact amount advanced. Pritchard transferred the draft, and it was presented at the Department only to be protested, to the disgrace of the government. The drafts were returned here, and Pritchard has paid about sixteen hundred dollars, "costs of protest and damages," and now, after losing the use of his money for two years, I inform him under Mr. Mix's instructions that he can only receive the original amount advanced to Supt. Palmer, by submitting to the Department his "statement," in which its character, the circumstances, necessity therefor, together with evidence of correctness &c. &c., are set forth. When I saw him last he was deliberating on the question of economy and has not fully determined whether to abandon the claim and lose the entire amount, or risk more in trying to get a part of it back!
    Mr. Pritchard's case is not a solitary instance; hundreds of others might be referred to where men have advanced to the Department and have been ruined by the non-payment of their claims.
    Whatever culpability may rest upon Mr. Hedges by reason of his not furnishing estimates for the second quarter of the current year, the Department cannot plead ignorance of his acts in creating this indebtedness, as acknowledgments of his communications on the subject are on file in this office; besides, Mr. Manypenny, on the 18th of March last, after informing me of the amount of the different appropriations, says: "Of this last appropriation it is understood that a considerable amount will be required to pay outstanding drafts and settle up the accounts of your predecessors and other officers of the service."
    In Mr. Manypenny's instructions of the 18th of March, I was only directed to furnish "a statement of those outstanding liabilities of the service," without reference to evidence of their necessity, correctness &c. &c, questions which I suppose had been determined by the recognized agents of the government who contracted them.
    In conclusion, I desire to inform you of the fact that the people here are not disposed to make further advances of supplies at the risk of never being paid. Under this state of affairs, I have to request that I be instructed in relation to what should be done. I might perhaps be able to retain the Indians upon the reservations for a short time by promising about double the market prices for supplies, but even this expedient must soon fail; if the neglect to pay is longer continued, the inevitable result must be the turning loose of the Indians who are now being subsisted upon the reservations.
    If this course is to be forced upon me by the withholding of the necessary funds to purchase their food with, it is but proper that the people should have some notice to prepare for defense before three or four thousand starving and exasperated savages are turned loose upon them for the purposes of plunder and rapine.
    It will be barely possible, with the supplies accumulated at the reservations, together with what can he purchased upon depreciated promises, to retain them upon the reservations until your decision upon the matter can be had. I shall look for it with the solicitude and suspense naturally involved in a question of life and death to not only the Indians, but also to many of the whites.
To
    Hon. J. W. Denver
        Commissioner Ind. Affairs
            Washington
                D.C.
NARA Series M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, Reel 610 Oregon Superintendency 1857, frames 962-977.




Sir,