agency, viz, Lummi, Swinoraisb, Port Madison, and Muekelshoot, in order to settle many little difficulties that many times exist between the Indians and white settlers. The Lummi Indians, having now Mr. John McGlinn at their head, are doing very well under his instructions; and since Mr. William DeShaw has undertaken to look after the interests of the Port Madison Indians everything seems to go on much better than heretofore.

Of some of the numerous complaints made by a large number of Indians under my charge, I will just mention a few which seems to me to be both just and reasonable, and are of such nature as might attract your attention and also that of the Department.

The white settlers, who are increasing so rapidly in this country, and locating themselves around Indian reservations, are becoming more and more troublesome to the Indians, and I am very much of opinion that they will destroy the whole race in a short time, if some efficient means be not speedily taken to put a stop to their nefarious traffic in poisonous whisky. This is one of the chief causes, of complaint against the Government, for allowing whisky shops to be established so near the reservations.

It has been a very old custom among the Indians to set fire to the woods in order to burn the underbrush and promote the growth.of wild berries, which they gather, dry, and dispose of among themselves and white settlers. There are another class of Indians who live by the chase and are called Sunitees; these men destroy all the game on the reservations and elsewhere, and, disposing of them, make money by doing so. When I took charge of this agency I was requested by the Indians to allow them to cut the timber and dispose of it to the saw-mills, as they thought it would be better than have it destroyed by fire, and that they could make more money this way than any other, as their land was not adapted or in any way fit for agricultural purposes. I considered their demand and thought it very reasonable, and gave them all the encouragement I could, in order to carry on the work. They were quite satisfied to labor hard provided they got paid for it, but when I told them they should pay stnmpage, as the timber they were cutting and disposing of ,was common property, and that all the Indians who were parties to the Point Elliott treaty were all equally entitled to their share of the proceeds or the timber, they then got quite discouraged- and said they were not disposed to work and earn money and then be obliged to hand it over to support idle Indians,, who did nothing but bask in the sunshine from morning, till night, spending their time in gambling and drinking, when they could get the means of doing so. They then asked me why I did not impose a tax on those wild Indians who destroyed the woods by fire for the purpose of gathering wild berries, and on the hunters for destroying their game, as it also was common property, as well as the timber that was standing useless until it was cut down and converted into money; that all the Indians who desired to work were welcome to their share of the proceeds, provided they shared also in the labor. They said that they had themselves and families to support and many old and decrepit relations that depended on them, and would be starved if they had to depend on Government rations;, that they did not believe the Government ever intended to tax them for trying to support themselves by hard labor, or making the most of the property the Government awarded them, and that the taxing system was got up by the agent to make money for himself and those that were in league with him.

Finally, they complain against the Department for not having their lands surveyed and secured to them^ and thus save them from the trouble and annoyance they are continually receiving at the hands of the white settlers.

In conclusion, I desire to return you my most sincere thanks for the courtesy you have always shown in,aiding my efforts in the management of my agencies. I have done and am still trying, to do all in my power to dispense justice and maintain peace between the whites, and those Indians under my charge.

Desiring your respectful attention to the accompanying report of Dr. Yan DenBergh with regard to-the sanitary condition of the Indians pertaining to this agency, I have the-honor to be, sir, verv respectfully yours.

E.. C. CHIROUSE,
R. Sub Indian Agent.

R. H. Milroy, Esq.,

Saperintend£7it of Indian Affairs, Olympia, Wash.

64.

Neah Bay Indian Agency, Washington Territory,

September 1,1873. Sir: I have the honor to submit the following as my third annual report upon the condition of affairs at this agency.

When I assumed charge of this agency, a little over two years ago, it was in a most deplorable condition, indeed. About ten years previous to that time, when the agency was established, an addition was illegally made to the treaty reservation upon which all the improvements of the agency excepting the school-house were located, and. upon which nearly all the money appropriated ibr this tribe has been expeuded. Tut* agency was really not upon the reservation. After Agent Webster, who established the agency and. made most of the improvements, went out of office, several of his employes, having become informed of the condition of the reservation, took claims upon the addition which he had. made and thus improved. For seven or eight years the Indian Department and these Indians had considered this addition as a part of the reservation, and had held undisputed control over it, whcu the persons who had located claims upon it denied the right of the Government to hold it as a reservation any longer. These persons were perhaps legally right, but certainly morally wrong in attempting to take what justly belonged to these Indians, and had been improved with money appropriated by the Government for their benefit. The Indians objected to having their lands and homes taken by white men, and made many bitter complaints to me in regard to it. A difficulty was growing out of this unpleasant state of conflicting authority, interest, and rights, which, without very prudent management, must have resulted seriously, and would probably have ended in another Modoc war. The President's executive order of January 2d last, extending the limits of the reservation, has finally (and it is to be hoped forever) settled this difficulty. After these claimants had been officially notified that their claims were included in this extension, they still refused to leave them, stating that the President had no authority to extend the reservation, and threatened to forcibly resist any attempt to remove them. After the time in which they were notified to leave had expired, in compliance with the advice of the honorable Secretary of the Interior, a request was made for a military force to remove them, and on the 24th of June last Lieut. James A. Houghey, of the Twenty-first United States Infantry, and commander of San Juan garrison, with a detachment of twenty-five men of Company H of the same regiment, arrived at Neali Bay on the steamer Favorite for that purpose. By the same steamer that brought the troops I received instruction to give Webster sixty days more in which to move, and he was accordingly not molested. After again advising McCollum and Colby to peaceably abandon the reservation, and even offering to assist them in removing their effects, which they still declined to do, Lieutenant Houghey had a sergeant and four men placed in each one of their houses, and sent McCollum under guard to the outer limits of the reservation, Colby left without any further trouble. * * * *

During August Rev. J. F. DeVore, J. B. Montgomery, and Capt. George D. Hill, the gentlemen who compose the board appointed to appraise the value of the improvements made by McCollum, Colby, and Webster, visited Neah Bay and made a personal inspection of the improvements with a view to assessing the value of the same, in order that they may be justly compensated therefor. * * *■ *

The Indians are highly pleased at the result, and seem much better satisfied, since they now feel that their homes are secured to them forever where they*can live in peace and enjoy the fruits and blessings of their own labor. They have already purchased seven head of cattle and four horses, the first stock ever owned by the tribe; and since they are satisfied that this land now undoubtedly belongs to them they are making arrangements to purchase cattle and horses and raise stock. This of course I encourage them in doing, as I think it far better for their future interest and welfare that they should give more of their attention to pursuits of this character. * * *

The boundaries of the reservation as now extended should be surveyed and established at an early day.

The Indians have been very peaceable and well-disposed during the last year, and are steadily adopting the habits and customs of civilization. Many of them wear citizens' clothes", and some of them are learning to talk English quite well. Only in two or three instances during the past year has whisky been brought or drank upon the reservation. It is only when they visit the towns upon Puget Sound, and the different tribes that inhabit the shores of Vancouver's Island on the opposite side of the straits of Juan De Fuca from here, that they drink whisky, and then but a few of them ever become intoxicated. There are quite a number of them that cannot now be persuaded to drink whisky at any time. Captain John, one of the best chiefs in the tribe, who I am informed formerly dealt considerably in whisky, could not now be induced to taste it. The Indians who live upon Vancouver's Island visit the different villages of this tribe quite frequently and sometimes in great numbers—were formerly in the habit of bringing whisky with them, but we have been so successful in destroying it that they found it more expensive than profitable, and the past summer have not brought any.

The Makahs, as usual, have been very busily engaged during the summer catching and drying salmon and halibut for winter use, and have succeeded in laying up a good supply.

There is no road or trail leading from this reservation to any white settlement that can be traveled on horseback. The Indians recently (since they have taken the notion to buy horses and cattle) have asked me to assist them in opening a trail along the Pacific coast, from this agency to the Quinaielt reservation, which if done would open communication between this place and the Quillehute and Chehalis countries, and enable the Indians along the coast to bring stock into this coast country, which I have no doubt would be a great benefit to them. The distance from here to Quinaielt is about sixty-five miles.

Although the crops upon the reservation were put in with more care than usual last spring, they have not done well. The potato-crop (the one we most depend upon) is almost an entire failure. They are affected with the blight, and the tops are all dried and withered away; the potatoes were beginning to rot before they were half grown. Ten acres of potatoes upon the reservation farm I do not think will yield over three hundred bushels, and six acres at the agency will not yield over one hundred bushels. The Indians' potatoes are also almost an entire failure, and they will have to purchase or do without the coming winter. The Indians are very fond of potatoes, and of late years they have become one of their chief articles of food* Boiled or roasted potatoes, dried salmon or halibut, atid whale-oil make a dish which is greatly relished by them. The farmer seeded about three acres in pease and about six in oats and barley. Before the pease had matured the cattle broke into the field at night and destroyed them, and very much injured the barley. The oats and barley have been harvested, and [we have] made about five tons of good hay. The farmer also seeded four acres more at the farm in timothy, which now looks very well, and next season will probably produce a good crop of hay. I also had about two acres at the agency sowed with timothy-seed. There is but little of this land that is fit for anything but grass, and much of it will not even produce that. We have harvested about twenty tons of hay, and small in amount as it may appear, it is the largest crop of hay ever produced upon the reservation. I expect to have four acres more sown in timothy and clover after the potatoes are dug. The gardens at the agency are very fine, the best I have seen in the Territory. * '* * . *

In my last annual report I referred to the poor and almost worthless quality of the land upon which the reservation farm is located, d't- being a mere sand-bed, and recommended an appropriation of $1,500 for Jhe construction of a dike across the Wa-ach slough, by which about five hundred acres of excellent tide-land might be reclaimed, upon which a good farm could be made with but little labor; also an appropriation of $1,500 for building a new farm-house and making other necessary improvements. I would invite your attention to that report and renew the same recommendation.

I have been asked by the chiefs of this tribe a number of times to urge the Government to furnish them a schooner, and I suppose there is nothing that these Indians have a greater desire to possess, or that would please them better or be more beneficial to them, than a good schooner of about fifty tons burden. They are natural sailors, and from infancy spend much of their life upon the water. They obtain nearly all their resources from the sea. The products of the waters about Cape Flattery, which amount to, many thousand dollars annually, would be lost to the country were it not for these Indians, as there are perhaps no other people who wrould or could take their places and obtain a support as they do, and besides produce annually what is worth thousands of dollars to the several interests of our country. It seems to me that a race of people like this, who inhabit a portion of the country which, without them, would be desolate and almost worthless, should be fostered, protected, and cared for, and, if possible, civilized as a matter of interest, to say nothing of their claims upon our charity, or the general good that intellectual and moral advancement always produces upon society. From the 1st of January to the last of May is their sealing season, and the weather is much of the time disagreeable and stormy and the sea rough during this period; but when the weather will permit they engage in sealing, going from ten to fort}T miles from land in their cedar canoes on the Pacific after the fur-seal. This is an extremely dangerous business, and sometimes they are blown so far out to sea by a strong east wind that they never return. It is, however, very profitable, as they find ready sale for the skins at from two to ten dollars apiece, and sometimes kill fifteen hundred seals in a single season. Later in the season they go far out to sea in their frail canoes in pursuit of whales. East summer they killed nine whales, some of them very large ones. This summer they have as yet killed only two. If they had a good schooner it would be of great advantage to them in sealing and whaling, as they could put their canoes, provisions, and water on board the schooner and go out to sea among the seals and whales, and, leaving the schooner, they, in their canoes, could engage in sealing. or whaling all day, and return to the schooner at night to sleep and rest, and renew their supply of water and food; and in case of a storm the schooner would be a safe refuge for them. With a schooner they would be able to remain at sea for many days, or even weeks, at a time, in almost perfect safety, and would undoubtedly be far more successful in their perilous pursuits than they are. I would earnestly recommend an appropriation of $5,000 for the purpose of procuring a schooner for the use of this tribe. There was considerable sickness in the tribe last winter, and many of the Indian children were afflicted with the measles; but through the summer the health has been generally very good. In my last annuakreport I urged the necessity of establishing a hospital at'Neah Bay, where the old, maimed, and sick might be brought from the different villages and have care, food, and medicine, and be under the immediate su X)ervision of the resident physician, and at least kept from dying of starvation or utter neglect. This appears to me to be an actual necessity for the proper care of these people. I cannot understand why it is that the Government does not care for all Indians alike. Many agencies, I understand, have hospitals, and it seems to be the Indians that are most favorably situated and best able to take care of themselves that are thus favored, while this tribe, located perhaps in the most unfavorable part of the United States, in an unproductive country, far remote from any settlement, with very poor, unhealthy habitations, and no mill to make lumber with which to construct better ones adapted to health and comfort, where they can never accumulate much wealth or provide for their own comfort and welfare as it should be done, are neglected, and actually mnuy times suffer for the comforts a hospital would afford. Dr/Bryant, the resident physician, is a very competent officer, and well adapted to the service. His -salary, $1,200 per annum, in currency, which is equal to about $1,000 in coin, (the prevailing currency on this coast,) is very inadequate, and does not properly compensate, for the services rendered, and, besides, with this meagre salary he is required to furnish all medicines used. Will $1,000 a year properly compensate for the services of a physician and pay for all the medicines required in his practice for that time in this country, where medicines are very expensive? It certainly will not. Almost any common laborer can go into any saw-mill on Paget Sound and earn as much per annum. Dr. Bryant is making a sacrifice by remaining in the service, and should he leave, his place could not be easily filled by a competent X->hysician. I would recommend that the salary for a physician at this agency be increased to $1,500 per annum, dating back one year, also that an appropriation of $1,500 be made for the establishment of a hospital at Neah Bay, which, with the labor that could be performed by the present employe's, would, I think, be ample for that purpose, and that an additional appropriation, annually, of $300 be made to pay for the services of a person to perform the duties of cook and nurse. I would further recommend that $300 be allowed annually for the purpose of purchasing the necessary medicines for the use of the physician, and that the necessary surgical instruments, such as are furnished for the Army surgeons, be furnished for the use of the physician upon this reservation, or a sufficient appropriation be made for the purchase of the same.

With regard to the school allow me to say the children, under the supervision, of Rev. C. H. Hodges, the teacher, are doing finely. * * *" The boys, every day that the weather will permit, are required to perform a portion of labor in the school garden, and the girls to attend to the domestic duties of the house. On Lord's day they are thoroughly washed and dressed, and required to attend religious services. Mr. Hodges in his spare moments labors in the capacity of missionary on the reservation, looking out for the general interests of the reservation morally and spiritually, having religious ser-. vices at the school-house on Lord's day, and this labor is done by him gratuitously.

The school at present numbers eighteen, and they are advancing finely. When the Indians return from their summer resorts the number of scholars will be increased. One remarkable feature of the school is the regularity of the children in their attendance. Mr. Hodges has some scholars that have not missed a day from school since he has been with them, notwithstanding the numerous "pot-latches" that are constantly going on among the Indians during the summer months. The proximity of the school-house to the Indian ranches is a great drawback to the prosperity of the school. The ideas and habits formed in school do not harmonize with the savage and barbarous habits of the Indians; not only this, but many of the old Indians are trying to persuade the children that education is a detriment to them, as it unfits them for the hardy pursuits of the Indian. The aj3propriation for the support of the school is small. One woman is obliged to cook and wash for the whole school, and do it at very low wages. We greatly need an assistant teacher and another cook; and I would recommend that an appropriation of $600 annually be made to pay for the services of an assistant teacher, and $300 annually to pay for the services of another cook.

In conclusion, I will say that the present employes upon the reservation are all good Christian men, and are earnestly endeavoring to instruct and elevate the Indians and better their condition; and while our efforts have not accomplished what we had desired they should, owing to the many difficulties we have had to contend with, yet we confidently hope that the aggregate good we may have disseminated among them will result in a permanent advancement and a lasting blessing to the whole tribe. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

1 E. M. GIBSON,

United States Indian Agent.

Hon. R, H. Milroy,

Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Washington Territory..

65.

Skokomish Agency, Washington Territory,

September 23, 1873.

Siii: It becomes my duty to make my third annual report of the affairs at this agency and the Indians belonging to this reservation.

The general condition of the Indians under my charge is much the same as at the time of my last report. The year has been quiet, peaceful, and prosperous. During the month of October last I made a distribution of annuity goods to such Indians under my charge as came for them. In consequence of the great distance that most of the S'Klallams live from the agency, not half of that tribe came for their goods. Less than five hundred in all were present at the distribution. During the past few weeks I have visited most of the Indian towns of the S'Klallams. A large proportion of them live on the southern shore of the Straits of Juan de Fuca, in small villages from ten to twenty miles distant from each other. They occupy houses, some of which have floors and windows, and are as good as many whites inhabit. They subsist by fishing and working by the day or month for farmers and others. Some have declared their intention to become citizens, and have taken up claims, and are farming and accumulating property. They seem to be peaceable and industrious; but many of them often go across the straits, and get liquor in large quantities, and drink badly. Being so far from the oversight of any one, they drink without any restraint. Others live at the various saw-mills on the sound and work in them. These are doing well, except that they connive secretly to get whisky and drink badly. 1 have endeavored to induce them to come on to the reservation by oiferiug to give them pieces of land of their own to cultivate. They are very slow to take in such an idea, because that, first, it removes them so far from their old homes. Then there is not a cordial good-feeling between them and the Twanas, who are in the majority on the reservation. The reservation is so small that they can have but small pieces of land, and must be thrown in close proximity with those they do not) like, and who speak a different language. Then, there is not as good an opportunity to get work near the reservations as there is where they now are; and the opportunities to get and sell fish where they are are far superior to those near here. These reasons all combine to render it difficult to bring them in any considerable numbers on the reservation. They are diminishing in number, and the most discouraging feature in relation to them is that they have scarcely any children. Consequently, as a nation, when this generation passes away, they will become almost extinct.'

The Twanas, who mostly live on the reservation, are improving. TJiey are drinking less than formerly, and work more steadily. Daring the past year they have cut and sold 2,000,000 feet of saw-logs, which have been sold for about $10,000. They are beginning to clear up some of their laud, have cut considerable hay, and are raising some potatoes. I have distributed to them three hundred fruit-trees during the last spring, which they have set out on their pieces of ground.!

The school has been steadily gaining. We report this year an attendance of twenty scholars against fifteen last year. Their progress is quite satisfactory. During the past summer the teacher has worked with the boys forenoons, and had study-hours in the afternoons. They have cultivated about four acres of garden, and cut and put up for winter use over forty cords of good, dry wood.

At the agency there was produced on the farm last year 700 bushels apples, 45 tons hay, 120 bushels potatoes, 125 bushels turnips, 110 bushels beets, 30 bushels carrots, 20 bushels parsnips, 20 bushels pears, and 25 bushels plums. This summer there has been made a dike ten feet wide and about two feet high, 240 rods long, a rail fence 300 rods long, a warehouse 20 by 36 feet, a council-house 20 by 40, also other improvements on the buildings at the agency. The crops this year are good and have been well taken care of.

During the early part of the summer I made urgent request that the reservation be enlarged, but the withdrawal of all alternate sections of land by the North Pacific Eailroad Company forbid such an extension. Since-that, time the company have located their terminus at a point south of the desired extension, so that it is presumable, at least, that the withdrawal will be rescinded. Should such be the case, I earnestly request that such extension be made.

I would call your attention to the following facts: Some ten or twelve years ago the then acting superintendent of Indian affairs for this Territory, at the urgent request of the Indians, decided upon adding to the reservation a half-section of land which was a donation-claim of A.D.Fisher. The place and improvements were appraised and" the appraisement forwarded to Washington. The place was then turned over to the agent, and used for the benefit of the Indians as a part of the reservation. A portion of it was used by them as a burying-'ground for their dead. At that time the land was all unsurveyed, so that no title could be given, as Mr. Fisher had none. As near as I can learn, no notice was ever taken of the appraisement, and Mr. Fisher has never re