NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 186-187.



Sir
    I would respectfully call your attention to the balance due me on salary as U.S. Indian agent, which the Department has thus far overlooked or entirely ignored.
    In consequence of a personal difficulty existing between myself and W. H. Rector, Supt. Indian Affairs for Oregon, and in the exercise of his prerogative, my duties as agent at the Siletz Agency were suspended, and in pursuance of orders from Supt. Rector dated Oct. 10th 1862 I turned over Indian Dept. funds and property to Agt. James B. Condon on Oct. 16th 1862 and was relieved, or suspended, from active duty until the Department at Washington should act in [the] matter. It seems from the records and official papers on file in [the] Supt.'s office of Oregon that the Department took no official notice of the matter until on or about the 28th day of April 1863, under which date Hon. W. P. Dole, Commr., informs the Supt. of Oregon "that Agent Biddle has been removed and that no further funds will be placed in his hands &c. &c."
    Now during all this time I was kept in a state of suspense and expecting to be assigned to active duty. It certainly was not my fault if I was kept idle all this time. I was prevented from attending to any private business, for I could not tell what day I might be called to active duty. I was led to believe that this relief from duty was only temporary, and it will be nothing more than justice that I should receive salary up to the time, at least, that the Dept. notified the Supt. of Oregon of my removal--which was 28th day of April 1863.
    If my claim is valid, I am entitled to wages as Indian agent from Octr. 17th A.D. 1862 to April 28th 1863 inclusive, at the rate of $1500.00 per annum, which amounts to $797.26. This amount is just and correct, and one which I hope the Department will award to me, as both legally & morally right.
    I will here state that my accounts are all in and settled--if my last letter reached the Treasury Dept.--with the exception of $1.00 which seems to be a balance against me for not accounting for six tin cups.
    I have not pressed this matter upon the Dept. on account of our national troubles, and would not now--if I did not believe that my claim was just & right.
To
    Hon. D. N. Cooley, Commr. In. Affairs
        Washington,
            D.C.

NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 302-306.



Sir
    Enclosed please find communication to you from B. R. Biddle, late Indian agent at Siletz Agency in Oregon.
    This communication accompanied one to me from Mr. Biddle in which he repeats substantially what the enclosed letter contains & says that his claim for unpaid salary is just.
    I submit the matter to you expressing the hope that you will find it consistent with public duty to pay Mr. Biddle what he claims.
    I have always believed that he was wrongfully removed from office.
    I presume that my colleague would concur with me in opinion upon this subject.
Hon. D. N. Cooley
    Comr. Indian Affairs
        Washington
            D.C.
NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 335-336.

NARA Series M234 Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs 1824-81, Reel 615 Oregon Superintendency, 1866-1869, frames 262-268.  Map attached.  Copy of the Oct. 26 letter on NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 10; Letter Books I:10, pages 42-43.




    DEATH OF MR. S. H. CULVER.--The painful event of the death of Mr. S. H. Culver occurred at 1 o'clock today. It was not unexpected, as he has been an invalid for more than a year, having been attacked in the first place with bleeding at the lungs, and although there have been times when he and his friends were hopeful that his health might be restored, he has gradually failed until death relieved him of his sufferings. Mr. Culver was an old resident of Rock County, having some hither from Livingston County, N.Y., twenty-four years ago. He has resided here most of the time since, having however been in California and Oregon for a few years. In the latter territory he filled the position of Indian agent. He was known throughout the entire county, and was highly respected for his sterling worth. His age was about 43.
Janesville Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, October 26, 1866, page 1



Sir
    The appropriations made by Congress at the last session of Congress to carry out the provisions of the treaty with the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Indians ought to be applied for their benefit without delay. I therefore submit for your consideration a requisition for such part of them as can be immediately expended with profit, and respectfully ask that the amounts named to be placed to my credit for disbursement for the objects for which they were designed. The portion of the appropriations not included in the requisition could better remain in the Treasury for the present, and when they are needed your office will be duly notified.
Hon. D. N. Cooley
    Commissioner &c.
        Washington D.C.
   



Sir
    Making my annual report for the current year at the distance of many thousand miles from the Indian Superintendency which I have the honor to represent, and while suffering from severe illness, it will be impossible for me to be as minute in detail as if I were at home. The very full reports of the several agents, however, render it unnecessary for me to go as much into particulars as has been usual.
    With a few brief remarks about each reservation I shall, then, confine myself to some general matters which do not properly come within the purview of the agents.
    This reservation consists of two townships and two fractional townships of land adjoining the Coast Reservation, withheld from sale by an executive order, and upon it is located the oldest Indian agency in the Superintendency. The tribes located there are those who earliest came into intercourse with white people, and they therefore exhibit most completely the effects of civilization upon the savage.
    There has been among them a steady progress in useful arts, a constant though slow advance in education, and a regular diminution in numbers. They are always peaceable and well-behaved when whiskey can be kept away from them, and most of them are industrious and thrifty.
    They are located upon the border of an extensive white settlement and are therefore most exposed to the corrupting influence of the vile whites, who are always ready to minister to the depraved wants and habits of their savage nature.
    The soil of the reservation is well adapted to the production of cereals, and produces some vegetables tolerably well. Its great elevation, however, being near the summit of the Coast Mountains, makes it too frosty for any but hardy plants and makes it liable to more snow in winter than the lower region of the Willamette Valley.
    The Indians have for several years raised enough grain and roots for their own subsistence, with the exception of a few old and decrepit ones and orphan children, who are supported wholly or in part by the government.
    They own a few cattle and more horses. They are on the whole moderately prosperous, though of course that community, like any other, has a share of vagabonds, paupers and criminals.
    This agency is situated upon the Coast Reservation, a tract of land which was reserved for Indian purposes by Joel Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, in 1855, and confirmed by an executive order in 1856, and is about one hundred miles north and south by twenty miles east and west.
    A larger number of Indians are located at Siletz than at any other agency in the Superintendency, and they are in some respects the most prosperous.
    Their land is not well adapted to the production of wheat, and oats, peas and potatoes are their principal articles of food. Of these their soil is remarkably prolific, and as new land is brought into cultivation the product of them steadily increases. They own but few domestic animals, but have a strong ambition to possess them and are gradually increasing their stock. The want of funds applicable to this agency has been a serious embarrassment. Only a very small part of these Indians draw annuities, and the whole appropriation applicable to their benefit are only $2.50 per head. With this very limited means much has been accomplished., a part of this no doubt is due to their very favorable location, which affords plenty of fish and game and yields agricultural productions with but very little labor, but much is also due to the efficient and judicious management of Agent Ben Simpson.
    A special report which I made to Hon. J. P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, under date of Dec. 12, 1864, in reply to inquiries concerning Yaquina Bay, was published in the annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1865 (page 105). To that I respectfully refer you for a full description of the Coast Reservation. In that report I urged the importance of providing for a removal of the Indians located upon and about the bay before the land was thrown open to settlement. My suggestions in this respect have been totally disregarded, and a district about twenty-five miles north and south by twenty east and west, beginning two miles south of the Siletz Agency and including the whole of Yaquina Bay, was thrown open to settlement by an executive order. Upon this tract were located some Indians who had been encouraged to open farms, erect dwellings and establish themselves permanently. The effect upon them and upon the other Indians was most disastrous. They had all been promised protection in the possession of these lands, and that protection had hitherto been afforded them, but now the agent was powerless, and whites occupied the lands as they pleased. There were also some public buildings upon the reservation, and some boats belonging to the Indian Department, but these were of comparatively small consequence.
    Common justice required, and still does require, that some compensation be made these Indians, and that provision be made for their removal to lands not occupied by whites.
    The northern boundary of the abandoned tract also was fixed and unfortunately near (two miles) to the agency. It gives an opportunity to any vagabond white or half-breed who desires to do so to establish a whiskey shop within two miles of the largest settlement of Indians on the Pacific Coast, and there, for paltry gain, by ministering to the depraved and vicious desires of the Indians, to be able to undo the good work of twenty missionaries and school teachers.
    The whole treatment of the government towards these Indians has been characterized by bad faith. At the risk of repeating what I have said in reports of former years, I will now briefly detail it.
    In 1855, Joel Palmer, then Superintendent of Indian Affairs, made a treaty with nearly all the tribes along the coast from the Columbia River to the California line.
    By the terms of the treaty the Indians ceded all their lands and agreed to remove to the Coast Reservation. In consideration the government promised to pay certain annuities, to build mills, provide schools, physicians, open farms, erect buildings &c. &c. This treaty the Senate refused to ratify, and it has therefore not been held to be binding upon the United States, but the Indians fully complied with the terms of their side of the treaty, abandoned their lands, removed to the reservation designated for them, and have with few exceptions remained there since.
    White settlers occupied their lands, and still occupy them. The Indians complain--justly, I think--that having complied with their side of the treaty, we ought to comply with ours.
    This discontent is much aggravated by seeing that other Indians draw annuities and are so much better provided for. It is also often aggravated by the machinations of malicious whites, who foster their discontent and encourage them to leave the reservation, and, seeking their own country, endeavor by retaliation to recover just compensation. They had concluded, however, that at least they were secure in the possession of the land they occupied, but they are again now again doubly alarmed by having a part of their reservation suddenly taken from them, and apprehensive that the taking of a part is only preliminary to the taking of the whole.
    I recommend either that the treaty of 1855 be ratified, that provision be made for making another, or, in default of either, that some other plan be devised by which those tribes ran be assured in the possession of the reservation and some compensation be guaranteed to them for the lands they have surrendered.
    In case a new treaty is decided upon, an appropriation of $8000 will be necessary to defray the expense of making the same. But whatever disposition is made of the general question, it is very important that measures should be taken to remove the Indians from the tract thrown open to settlement (which tract, I may remark, is rapidly filling up with whites) and to compensate them for their improvements. I deem an appropriation of $5000 sufficient for that purpose, and recommend that it be made.
    The boundary between Siletz Agency and the district thrown open to settlement being an imaginary line, it is uncertain and ought to be located by actual survey and marked by durable monuments. I recommend that an appropriation of three hundred and fifty dollars be made for that purpose, to be expended under the joint direction of the Surveyor General and the Supt. of Indian Affairs.
    The teams at this agency are old and worn out, and many of them die off each year. The agricultural implements are, many of them, worn out and worthless. As the number and extent of the Indian farms increase, the demand for both tools and teams increases also. I recommend an appropriation of $5000, to be expended in the purchase of teams, agricultural implements and seeds for the use of this agency.
    The old flouring mill, on account of the destruction of which, will be found in my report of 1865 (page 464), ought to be rebuilt. The burrs and irons are in good condition and can be used again. All the rest of the structure is valueless.
    I recommend an appropriation of $4000 to rebuild the grist mill.
    This agency is located on the Yawhutch Prairie, a fertile tract of about two thousand acres, situated on the ocean about eight miles below the Alsea River.
    It is on that part of the Coast Reservation which lies south of the tract recently opened for settlement. The tribes which are nominally located there are the Coos, Umpqua, Alsea and Siuslaw.
    The first three of these live in the vicinity of the agency. The Siuslaws occupy some fertile land near the southern end of the reservation, and they live partly by agriculture and partly by fishing. These tribes were all parties to the unratified treaty of 1855, mentioned under head of Siletz Agency, and the remarks made concerning them apply with equal force to these. I again urge careful attention to the subject. In my special report to Hon. J. P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, Dec. 12, 1864, I recommended the removal of these Indians to Siletz, or to that vicinity. I now repeat that recommendation, and refer you to the estimate then submitted for the amount of appropriation necessary. I remark, however, that if that course is determined upon, and that appropriation made, the one of $5000 recommended above for the removal of the Indians from Yaquina Bay & vicinity will not be necessary, as the action in relation to the tribes at Alsea can be made to cover these also.
    The arguments in favor of removal are:
    1st Collecting the Indians more compactly together
    2nd Avoiding the expense of one agency (the Alsea)
    3rd Opening for settlement the south part of the reservation, a tract forty miles long by twenty wide, which contains a large amount of fertile land, an immense body of superior timber and some fine fisheries.
    The sales upon this tract of lands would in a few years many times remunerate the expense of removing the Indians. The expense is, so far as I know, the only objection to the removal.
    If it is decided to allow them to remain where they now are, some provision should be made for a school among them, for medical attendance and for the purchase of teams, agricultural implements and seeds, the supply of these articles having been hitherto very meager. I recommend an appropriation (if the removal plan is not adopted) of $2500 for the purchase of seeds, agricultural tools and teams, and the usual amount for the other purposes named.
    This reservation is located in the edge of the Cascade Mountains, at the eastern base of Mount Jefferson.
    It contains a small amount of tillable land, but has a vast extent of "bunchgrass," which affords excellent grazing. Timber is abundant on some parts of the reservation, but there is very little within eight miles of the agency. The buildings are altogether the best in the Superintendency, and are ample for the use of the agency, no more being needed unless it be a few more barns and sheds, which can be built by the regular employees without expense to the government.
    Many of the Indians are well advanced in agriculture, raise wheat, corn and vegetables in abundance, and have many horses and cattle. Others prefer to lead a vagabond life about the little towns along the Columbia River, relying upon the prostitution of their squaws, and sometimes a little labor, to provide themselves with whiskey and subsistence.
    The former class are tolerably thrifty and upright, always well behaved, and of determined energy in the prosecuting of an object. The latter class are lazy, thievish and vile. They are distinct as if they were two different races.
    The supplemental treaty made by me with them the [blank] day of [blank] 1865, of which your office has been advised, relinquished on their part the right reserved to them by the original treaty of June 25th 1855, to fish, hunt, gather roots and berries, and pasture their stock upon lands outside the reservation, has been productive of much good. It now gives the agent enough control over them to confine them to the reservation, and the effect upon the Indians is most salutary in removing them from the demoralizing effects of whiskey and debauchery, while it affords the whites an infinite satisfaction by ridding them of a nuisance which otherwise would be intolerable.
    The affairs of this agency, which had relapsed into some confusion by the long vacancy in the agency caused by the sudden death of Agent William Logan (drowned on the steamer Brother Jonathan, July 30th 1865), are now much improved under the efficient management of Agent John Smith. I refer to his report and those of the subordinate employees for further information.
    This agency is situated in the northeast corner of the state and is a fertile and valuable tract of land.
    I have described it minutely in former reports and need not repeat here what I have said.
    As an instance confirmatory of what I have claimed for it in point of fertility, and also showing the progress in agriculture of the tribes located there, I call your attention to the fact that at the annual fair of the Oregon State Agricultural Society held in 1866, two first premiums and one second were awarded to these Indians for agricultural products, and I may add that I know from personal observation that products of similar or even superior quality ore by no means uncommon among them.
    The superior quality of the land, and its location on a great thoroughfare convenient|to the gold mines of Powder River, Boise Basin, Owyhee and other points, of course make it attractive to whites. There are constant attempts to encroach upon it, constant attempts under various pretexts to locate upon it, and occasional attempts to exasperate the Indians into the commission of some overt act which will justify--or at least palliate--retaliation and thus give an excuse for plunging the country into another Indian war, the end of which, they well know, would be the expulsion of the Indians from the coveted tract. This cupidity is the cause of constant trouble to the agent and apprehension to the Indians.
    If the Indians could be removed to some remote place equally fertile, and there relocated, it would [no] doubt [be] to their advantage and immensely to the advantage of the whites, but where is the remote place to be found? Population is rushing into Idaho, Washington and Montana at the rate of many thousands per month. The only parts now entirely unsettled are barren deserts, quite as incapable of supporting an Indian as a white population. I estimate that the reservation could be sold for $150,000 to $200,000.
    Its perpetual possession has been guaranteed to the Indians by treaty, and it would be the grossest of had faith to take possession of it without their consent. That consent will be obtained with the greatest difficulty, if at all.
    Two roads have been authorized by your office to be opened through that reservation within the past year, one for the use of Thomas and Ruckle--a stage firm--and the other for the use of the citizens of Umatilla County, Oregon.
    The latter could not be built without passing through several Indian farms, much to their damage, and that I strictly forbid. The result is that the road is not built, and probably will not be.
    The other road passes through the east end of the reservation, interferes with no farms, and will do no damage.
    I call your attention to the fact that the title to this reservation is vested in the Indians, and the right of the Department to authorize the opening of any road through without first obtaining the consent of the Indians is, to my mind, very questionable, and [I] further suggest that if such orders are to be given in the future that they be deferred until such local knowledge of the ground is obtained as will ensure that they avoid interfering with the property of the Indians.
    The treaty with the Indians reserved to them the same rights that were reserved to the Indians at Warm Springs by the treaty with them. I refer to the right to fish, hunt, gather roots and berries, and pasture their stock on land outside the reservation. This privilege is simply equivalent to giving them permission to roam at will over the country, and is demoralizing to them and damaging to the white settlers.
    Their facilities for obtaining whiskey are almost unlimited. Instructing them in schools or teaching them the art of farming and its value are impossible, and the Indians are impoverished, debauched and demoralized. Every tendency they have to vice is cultivated--the possibility of virtue, advance in civilization or material prosperity is abolished.
    I believe that a supplemental treaty, similar to that made with the confederated tribes at Warm Springs last year, could be made with them at similar cost. If accomplished, it would be of incalculable advantage to them and to the surrounding settlements.
    I therefore recommend that an appropriation of $5,000.00 be made for that purpose, and that the attempt be made.
    It is improper perhaps to style this place an agency. There are no agency buildings there and no improvements of any sort, except of very small value & very temporary character.
    Sub-Agent Lindsay Applegate has charge of the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Snake tribes, with whom a treaty was negotiated in October 1864, and he has (without funds) located some farms on the Middle Klamath Lake (sometimes known as Lake Taqua or Tak-qua) fifteen miles below Fort Klamath and made a beginning at farming.
    He reports the Indians zealous to enter into farming, and willing to work. None of the appropriations made by Congress for the benefit of these tribes have yet been remitted, but when they are, I look for the founding of a prosperous Indian colony. There are about two thousand of them, and I consider them as good raw material out of which to make civilized Indians as any on the continent.
    The Wal-pah-pe tribe of Snakes, with whom I made a treaty in 1865, came onto the reservation and remained there last winter, but during the last spring and summer they all left the reservation and are reported to have again joined the hostile bands of Snakes.
    The movement on their part does not involve any loss to the government, nor at all give them protection in their predatory raids, for it was expressly stipulated in the treaty that they should remain upon the reservation, and that failing to do so they should be treated as hostile. Nor were [they] to receive any benefit of appropriations unless they did so remain. But it has been unfortunate that they refused to stay, because that tribe when once established would have been a nucleus around which all the other tribes of Snakes would soon have gathered, and thus they would have been an instrument of pacification for the whole of southeastern Oregon, Idaho and Northern Nevada. I yet am in doubt whether they have joined the hostile tribes. My impression is that they have spent the summer in the region between Crooked River on the north, Harney Lake on the east, Sumner and Upper Klamath lakes on the south, and Mount Paulina and Queah Valley on the west. The tract of country included in these bounds has never been penetrated by white men, is nearly destitute of water and timber, but affords fine grass.
    This hand of Indians have inhabited it heretofore, and in my opinion have done so this past summer.
    Most important among these both in numbers and consequence are the various bands of Snakes. Little is known of them except that they are always determinately hostile. They are a nomadic people, sometimes appearing in Nevada under the lead of Winnemucca, and treating with Governor Nye, sometimes in Utah, holding council with Brigham Young and fighting Col. Connor, sometimes warring upon miners or soldiers in Owyhee and Boise, and often making raids upon the friendly Indians at Warm Springs or the whites on the Cañon City road, but always having their hand against every man, and every man's hand against them.
    What disposition can ultimately be made of them, I do not undertake to say. Now nothing is to be done but fight and exterminate them. Yet I am painfully conscious that extermination will cost the lives of ten whites for every Indian and besides cost many millions of money. The attempt to treat with them now is simply folly--they cannot be even brought to a council, much less a treaty.
    Their ultimate disposition is a matter that must be left to time to determine. Of their numbers I am not well informed, and at different times have made different estimates.
    Roughly, I estimate them at five thousand. They may double that, or fall below it.
    The military forces located in that part of the country have been engaged during the last year in warring upon them with varying success, sometimes gaining an advantage and oftener suffering a defeat, but their operations have really resulted in but little towards subduing the Indians.
    The number of troops has been grossly inadequate to the service to be performed, and they have labored under the disadvantages of unacquaintance with Indian warfare, ignorance of the geography of the country and vast distance from points where necessary supplies can be obtained.
    The Indians scattered along the Columbia River, those on the upper branches of the North Umpqua, a small hand on Clatsop plains, and the Nestuccas, Salmon Rivers and Tillamooks number in all not far from 1200 souls. They are in immediate vicinity of white settlements--in fact intermingled with them--and most of them are as thoroughly debauched and degraded as they well can be. They are not parties to any treaty, and I do not think it necessary that any treaty should be made with them. Indeed, they are scattered over so vast a country that it would be impossible to gather them together for a treaty, but measures ought to be taken to collect them upon some of the reservations. The Nestuccas, Salmon Rivers and Tillamooks (about 300 in all) ought especially to be taken under jurisdiction. The country they inhabit is fertile, has a good harbor, and is filling up with white settlers. They regard the Indians as nuisances, and have more than once asked me to remove them. I have had neither funds nor authority to do so.
    I recommend an appropriation of $2000 for gathering together and establishing upon some reservation the Indians mentioned. The amount named would be sufficient not only to remove them, but to afford them some assistance in opening farms, obtaining farming tools &c. &c. &c.
    I have little to add in respect to education to what I have stated in my former report.
    The "manual labor" schools, that is, schools where the Indian children are separated from their savage parents, housed, fed and taught not only the contents of the spelling book and the Testament, but the elements of agriculture, mechanics and the domestic arts, the boys to plow, plant & hoe, the girls to sew, mend, knit and cook. These schools are the only ones which benefit the Indians. The day schools, at which attendance is optional with the scholars, and often difficult or impossible by reason of the distance at which scholars reside, are of very little value. The scholars attend irregularly, and very often refuse to attend at all, and when they do attend the good influence of a few hours at school is entirely overcome by the far greater time that they are subject to savage association.
    I repeat my recommendation that such legislation as will place all the schools upon the "manual labor" basis be adopted. In default of this, it would be as well to abolish the day school altogether.
    The number of schools in the Superintendency is five: one at Umatilla, one at Warm Springs, one at Siletz and two at Grand Ronde. That at Siletz and one of those at Grand Ronde are upon the manual labor plan and are a credit to the teachers as well as a benefit to the Indians.
    Mr. & Mrs. Clark, who have recently taken charge of the school at Grand Ronde, are the persons who established the school at Siletz and conducted it very successfully for some time. I take this opportunity to pay to them a just tribute to their moral worth, high intelligence, zeal and efficiency in the discharge of their duties. The Indian children are very fortunate in having such instructors.
    Mr. & Mrs. Frazer [at Siletz] are also very worthy and competent. The school there, however, is much embarrassed for want of funds, and the number of scholars consequently much smaller than it should be. Mr. Gillette, the teacher at Warm Springs, is very competent and has accomplished as much as anyone could under the disadvantages of a day school. The school at Umatilla has recently been placed under the charge of Rev. Father Vermeesch, a Roman Catholic priest, and I anticipate much good from it, if it can be placed upon the manual labor basis. The Indians located there were twenty years ago brought (to some extent) under the influence of the Roman Catholic religion by a mission started among them near where the agency now stands. Many of the older ones retain a profound respect for the rites of the church to this day. They hailed the coming of Father Vermeesch among them with much joy.
    The rev. father seems very zealous in the good work he has undertaken and determined to accomplish all he can.
    The teacher of the day school at Grand Ronde was detailed by the agent (under my instructions) to act as farmer since last spring. The appropriation for the pay of farmer has run out, and consequently the agency is without a farmer. It could better dispense with any other employee, and 1 therefore directed Agent Harvey, in view of the fact that Indians needed instruction in agriculture more than anything else, to detail the teacher to act in that capacity.
    I trust my action in this case will meet your approval.
    As Indians advance in knowledge of agricultural arts, the desire to own the land they cultivate seems instinctively to arise. The wild Indian never thinks of owning any particular spot of ground. His tribe own a certain district of country, but [individual Indians] own nothing. But one of the first effects of putting him to work at cultivating the soil is to create a desire to own the land on which he works. This desire is commendable and ought to be encouraged. The best way to do this, in my judgment, is to allot to each adult male or head of family, who is sufficiently advanced to appreciate it, a tract of land not exceeding eight acres, the title which shall descend to his heirs forever. The power of alienation should not be given, because too often the ignorance or weakness of the Indian would be taken advantage of by the more intelligent white man. The object should be to inspire in the Indian a confidence that the particular tract which he is laboring to improve will be the permanent possession of himself and children.
    In order to do this it is necessary to make some surveys. I recommend that an appropriation of five hundred dollars be made for this purpose at each of the reservations at Umatilla, Grand Ronde and Siletz, and four hundred at Warm Springs, the same to be expended under the direction of the Surveyor General and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. The sum estimated for Warm Springs is smaller because there is at that reservation less land to survey. The sum named for Siletz will probably be found inadequate and require to be increased next year.
    No estimate is made for Alsea in view of the removal of the Indians which I have recommended, and none for Klamath, because the Indians there are not yet fit for it.
    By recent action of the War Department all the troops stationed at forts Hoskins and Yamhill, Siletz Blockhouse and Warm Springs Blockhouse have been withdrawn, and the posts abandoned. Thus the Coast Reservation, on which are four thousand Indians, is without a single soldier to enforce police regulations, preserve order or punish offenses. This is not only unwise but it is hazardous in the extreme. The agent is powerless to control the Indians except by moral suasion, and this they oftentimes will not submit to. There is now no way of preventing them from leaving the reservation and obtaining whiskey, and a few drunken Indians may commit outrages which will bring on a war that will cost the lives of many whites and Indians both. There would be no question as to the result of such a war. The settlers of Willamette Valley are strong enough to overpower the weaker Indians, but it is far better to avoid the outbreak altogether. This can be done by keeping a small force (say 25 men) at each of the posts, Fort Yamhill and Siletz Blockhouse, and it ought by all means to be done. I consider it unnecessary to garrison Fort Haskins if Siletz Blockhouse is occupied.
    Warm Springs Agency is situated on the edge of the hostile Snake country, and constantly liable to predatory raids from them.
    They have five different times visited that agency and stolen more or less stock and taken many lives. In 1859 they drove off 700 horses and about 100 cattle, killed a great number of friendly Indians, one white man, and had possession of the agency buildings for several days.
    The last time they appeared there was in 1864, when, although a small force under Lieut. Halloran was stationed there, they got away with over 200 horses. The lieutenant with his command promptly pursued them and recovered a part of the stolen property.
    The Cañon City road (from Dalles to Cañon City) passes within twenty miles of this agency. It has been the scene of constant depredations from the Snakes. Last year there was scarcely a week passed that there were not some depredations committed: pack trains with their cargoes stolen; wagons & teams with their freight, seized; stock driven off; teamsters, packers or travelers killed, in fact, to pass over the road was to peril one's life.
    I mention these facts to show the necessity for military protection there, and the difficulties we labor under for want of it.
    The time when the annual reports of agents in Oregon is required to be made prevents them from giving minute statistics of their crops &c. for the current year, because the crop not being yet harvested, their extent cannot be ascertained.
    The "statistical returns of farming," however, from the several agencies for 1865, which is on file in your office, will afford good information upon this subject, and I ask that they be printed with this report and made a part of it.
    For further information upon the general affairs of the Superintendency, I refer you to the former reports of myself and my predecessors, and the reports of the several agents and employees will afford you very full information of affairs during the current year. To D. A. Cooley
    Commissioner &c.
        Washington
            D.C.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 10; Letter Books I:10, pages 51-63.



Sir,
    In regard to affairs in this sub-agency for the present month I have the honor to report as follows.
    At the commencement of the month a few Snake Indians were on the reservation, but doubting their being there from feelings of amity towards the government but rather to be subsisted through the winter, in order to test their good intentions I held a council with them on the 3rd instant and required of them to come down to council grove, so that if I should be authorized to subsist them, they would be near at hand. This they agreed to do, but not liking, I think, to come down where intercourse with hostile parties would have to cease and where an attempt to leave the reservation in the spring could be prevented, they left the Klamath country on the night succeeding the council. There are hence no Snakes proper on the reservation, but an attack by them or a raid by them for the purpose of stealing and plundering is daily and nightly expected by the Klamath and Yahooskins. Some members of the last-named tribes having sent with the soldiers as their allies into the Snake country, they have incurred the ill will of all the Snakes, and this has helped to draw more distinctly the lines between the friendly and unfriendly Indians.
    It being reported that there was a disposition on the part of the Yahooskin Snakes to remain neutral as regards war with the Snakes, and there being pretty good evidence of a design on the part of the last-named Indians to invade the Klamath country, spies having been seen lurking around within a few miles of the agency, I left Ashland on the 26th instant and arrived there on the 29th. I found a growing disaffection on the part of the Indians, on account of the tardiness of the government in fulfilling treaty stipulations and on account of there being no evidence of an intention to provide winter subsistence for them. This feeling I am endeavoring to allay. I however think there is little danger of a division of the friendly Indians on the Snake question, as they all now seem equally fearfully vigilant. Fearing the Snakes the Yahooskins have moved down within a short distance of the agency, where most of the Indians have collected. I shall commence immediately to fortify this place by putting up stockading around the buildings, after which I design making a requisition on the military for a few men to garrison the fortification which be thus constructed. This will make the government property here more safe and will give tangible evidence to the Indians of an intention to continue operations here.
    Farmer Whitmore has busied himself in gathering the crop and in putting up two more log buildings, which will be ready to serve such purposes as the government may require. One of the buildings can be occupied by the soldiers who will garrison the place.
    The Indians on the reservation, owing to a combination of unfortunate circumstances not being as well provided as usual with winter supplies, should certainly be provided with flour through a portion of the winter at least. This would have a good effect. Would give them evidence of an intention to do the best for them. The shorts in my possession should I think be issued to them. There are ten thousand pounds of flour at the fort for sale, which I think should be purchased, and a large part issued to the friendly tribes--a portion being reserved however to stimulate business operations in the spring.
Hon.
    J. W. Perit Huntington
        Supt. of Indian Affairs
            Salem, Ogn.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 23; Letters Received, 1866-1867, no number.


    The following is a copy of a letter from Capt. Sprague to the Sentinel dated Fort Klamath, Oct. 30th: "Lieut. Oatman returned today; went to Camp Bidwell; was joined by some troops under Lieut. Small, 1st U.S. Cav.; went thence to Lake Abert; found a camp of Snake Indians; fought them; killed fourteen, that were found, but suppose that they must have killed more that were not found; run the Indians into a cave; could not get them out, but destroyed their winter quarters and subsistence. He had some Klamath Indians with him, who behaved splendidly and fought like tigers. All concerned deserve great credit."
"State Items," Morning Oregonian, Portland, November 9, 1866, page 2


    The Jacksonville papers give an account of a battle that was fought near Abbott Lake between the soldiers under Lieutenant Smalley and the Indians, in which 14 Indians were butchered, 7 prisoners were taken, and not a single soldier lost.
State Rights Democrat, Albany, Oregon, November 17, 1866, page 2


Sir
    In regard to affairs in this sub-agency for the present month, I have the honor to report as follows.
    In accordance with my plans, as mentioned in my last report, early in the month I commenced to fortify the agency buildings, in order to make safe government property there as well as to give the Indians tangible evidence of an intention to continue operations there. Logs were procured and planted in a ditch surrounding the buildings, and by the 10th inst. they were enclosed by a wooden wall ten feet high. As soon as the wall was completed I made a requisition on Captain Sprague, commanding Fort Klamath, for four men to garrison the fortification thus constructed. He readily responded, and Sergt. G. A. Comstock and three privates were stationed at the agency without delay. The Indians, reassured of a determination to continue operations there by the preparing for defense against the Snakes, were much pleased and encouraged. Captain Sprague also furnished a box of arms and ammunition to be placed in the hands of friendly Indians in case of extremity or necessity.
    The Snakes have not yet made any raids into the Klamath country, although they are yet expected to. They have, however, made two or three raids into the Modoc country, driving off some horses. The will unite the Modocs more firmly with the Klamaths against the Snakes.
    I am pleased to hear that there is a company of U.S. cavalry on its way to Fort Klamath. This will make property there safe, I think.
    On the 10th inst. the plow was started by the farmer, with an Indian to assist, and they have continued to plow whenever the weather has favored.
Hon.
    J. W. Perit Huntington, Supt. of Indian Affrs.
            Salem, Oregon.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 23; Letters Received, 1866-1867, no number.



    The Mountaineer says that the people of Grant County are anxious to have the Snake Indians exterminated, and no wiser plan was ever adopted to accomplish that end than the present one of sending armed Indians among them to fight. These Indian "fightingers" are from the Warm Springs Reservation. They are under command of Dr. McKay, who left the Dalles with them on Wednesday last for a month's scout up the Deschutes River, to the old winter ground of Paulina and his band of Snakes. After scouting thorough the Klamath Mountains the Doctor will cross Crooked River and join Mr. Darragh's detachment, which will leave the Dalles next week. The whole command will be rationed for seven months; and if we are not greatly mistaken it will prove most successful.
    From Mr. Jones, Wells, Fargo & Co.'s messenger, the Mountaineer of the 23rd learns that Lieut. Barry, of Col. Baker's command, had a brush with a band of Indians on South Fork in which Lo got worsted. The Indians had been prowling about the road for some time, but on Sunday morning last they made a break on the ranch of Mr. Robinson living on South Fork and drove off his cattle. Mr. R. sent word to Camp Watson of the theft, and at the same time started after the Indians and recovered some of his cattle. Upon the arrival of Lieut. Barry and his detachment, they started down the South Fork and found the Indians encamped. The ball was immediately opened and resulted in killing five Indians and destroying the camp, provisions &c. All honor to Col. Baker and his command for the good work they are doing.
"Oregon," Oregon City Enterprise, December 1, 1866, page 2


   News has reached headquarters of the Department that an attack by the Indians upon Fort Klamath is feared. The Indians intend to capture if possible the winter supplies of that post. The inhabitants have petitioned the General to allow Captain Sprague's company of Oregon volunteers to remain there for the winter to operate in connection with Capt. Kelly's company [of] U.S. cavalry against the Indians. In response to the petition a telegram was sent to the chief commissary of the division, inquiring whether he can supply provisions of two companies during the winter. If the reply is favorable, it is probable that the General will retain Capt. Sprague's company in service until spring; otherwise the company will be mustered out by Capt. Kelly either at Jacksonville or Fort Klamath, at the option of that gentleman.
"Army Intelligence," Oregonian, Portland, December 3, 1866, page 2




    DR. GANUNG, of Jacksonville, has been appointed Post Surgeon at Fort Klamath.
Oregon State Journal, Eugene, Oregon, December 8, 1866, page 2



Sir
    On the night of August 11th 1866 I arrested a man by the name of George Salling and a boy by the name of ------ Cate who I found in this agency.
    Salling when arrested had on his horse in a pair of saddlebags two quart bottles and a small demijohn of whiskey. I had them confined until Monday morning and then took them before the county judge at Dallas, who bound Salling over in the sum of $200.00 to appear and answer at the Nov. term of the district court. The boy ------ Cate he discharged, as no liquor was found upon him.
    The grand jury at the Nov. term found a true bill against Salling for giving whiskey to the Indians, but he failed to appear, and his bail was declared forfeited.
    I have the horse he rode together with an old saddle, bridle and the whiskey, which I hold by the instruction of the United States District Attorney, to whom a report of the matter has been made who informs me that he will proceed to levy and have them sold for the benefit of the United States.
Hon. J. W. Perit Huntington
    Supt. Ind. Affairs
        Salem
            Oregon
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 23; Letters Received, 1866-1867, No. 116.



Morning Oregonian, Portland, December 13, 1866, page 1



    A dispatch dated Jacksonville 17th inst. says: J. A. Summers, hospital steward at Fort Klamath, committed suicide on the 10th inst., by taking morphine. Deceased was a native of Virginia and has been in the regular service about four years.
"Our San Francisco Dispatch," Morning Oregonian, Portland, December 18, 1866, page 2


    The Sentinel learns from Lieut. Oatman, lately from Fort Klamath, that there was about twenty inches of snow there when he left, and it was still falling rapidly. The boys were in high spirits at the prospect of being relieved from the tedium of garrison duty and a speedy return to their homes and usual avocations. Subsequent information induces us to believe that Company "I" will remain at Fort Klamath and not be relieved by the 8th cavalry, as heretofore stated, that company having returned to Vancouver.


Sir
    In pursuance of the regulations of the Indian Department I have the honor to submit the following report for the present month.
    No changes of consequence in affairs in this sub-agency have occurred during the present month, and the condition of the Indians is substantially the same as reported last month. The weather has been usually mild and favorable for this season of the year; the Klamath Lake is not yet frozen over, and the Indians are yet able to take fish and kill waterfowl. It is my opinion that with what provisions the Indians have been able to collect, they will be able to subsist themselves until spring, with perhaps the issuing of some of the shorts on hand to the most needy. However, if the winter after this should become severe and be long continued, that want of a sufficient supply of subsistence will probably be severely felt. Sickness is prevailing among the Klamaths, and some of them have died. The Klamaths and Modocs, on account of nothing yet being done toward the carrying out of the treaty of 1864, are much disappointed and dissatisfied, but still act in good faith, yet looking to see all promises carried out. Farmer Whitmore under date of Dec. 26th says, "That they are somewhat disaffected on account of the failure to ratify or act under the treaty of 1864, it would be folly for me to deny."
    They have constructed very comfortable houses for the winter, but are rather poorly supplied with blankets and clothing.
    The wheat put in last autumn on the farm is up and doing finely. Although now covered four inches deep with snow it still grows, the snow being a protection to it. The plow continued running until early in the month, when the fall put an end to plowing for the present. Farmer Whitmore under date of Dec. 26th writes: "Your experiments on the reservation the past season, in proving the fitness of the soil and climate to produce, do establish the fact that the many cereals, together with various kinds of vegetables, can be produced in quantities more than sufficient to supply the wants of all the Indians included in the treaty. I have no hesitancy in saying that your efforts have been crowned with abundant success."
    The Department animals are at the agency and are doing well on the range, the snow not covering the tall grass, and hence but a small part of the hay has been used. A stable has been built for them during the month.
    The mountains east now being blocked with snow, but little danger is apprehended from the Snakes, and the fear of a raid into the Klamath country is now scarcely felt by the Indians.
Hon.
    J. W. Perit Huntington
        Supt. of Indian Affairs
            in Oregon.
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 23; Letters Received, 1866-1867, no number.



Mr. Huntington
    Dear Sir
        I will make one more effort to see whether I can hear from you. This is the third effort. What I wish to know is whether you have received instructions to pay for the beef that was furnished to the Indians at Fort Klamath by my brother J.M., who has since deceased, and I am appointed to settle the estate. I shall have to place the act in the hands of a lawyer unless there has been something done with it.
    I saw Mr. Nesmith when he was out and he told me that he had the papers instruct you to pay it. Now if you receive this for God's sake answer it.
To Mr. Huntington
    Indian Superintendent
NARA Series M2, Microcopy of Records of the Oregon Superintendency of Indian Affairs 1848-1873, Reel 23; Letters Received, 1866-1867, No. 1. The letter is undated, but was received January 1, 1867.





Last revised November 20, 2023