As stated, the age of discovery, the age when America was first made known to the civilized world, was one of exaggeration. The early colonists, sprinkling their small settlements near the coast, watching the tumbling waters of the river, with its source hidden in the great beyond and flowing past the cabin, seeing the dusky form of the Indian warrior sending his occasional arrow into their homes, and looking upon the dark and mighty forests, imagined that the vast country beyond was the empire of innumerable savage enemies, who were ready to dispute their ownership by rights of discovery and occupancy.

Early accounts, therefore, of the number of Indians in the United States at that time must be taken with due regard to the credibility of the witnesses presenting the same.

The first census of Indians was made by the General Government in 1850. Thomas Jefferson, however, in 1782, made two lists of Indians who at that date lived in and beyond the present limits of the United States. These estimates, as stated in his "Notes on Virginia,” were compilations from four different lists, and present the attempt at an enumeration of such Indians as came under notice of the formulators of those lists.

The various and often conflicting statements relative to the Indian population of the United States from the earliest times, which include the estimates or "guesses" of the first enumerators to the present year, are given in the following table:

TABLE 18.-Estimates of population of Indians in United States from 1759 to 1900.

The above table excludes the Indians of Alaska, but includes the New York Indians (5,334) and the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian

Territory (84,750)-à total population of 90,084. These Indians are often separated from the others in statistics because they have separate school and governmental systems.

Prior to the first census of 1850 only small reliance can be placed upon the figures given, and the work of the "estimator" entered largely into the results after that date until about 1870 or 1880, when the importance of the data became apparent. All estimates of Indians must contain some element of doubt, by reason of the shifting about of the tribes, their ignorance of the English language, and disinclination to be counted except for ration and annuity purposes.

The table is an interesting one, and shows that since 1870 the Indian population has been nearly stationary. There has been a decrease, of course, but that may be accounted for by the numbers of Indians who have become citizens of the United States and lost their tribal identity, and are counted in the regular census of American people. The census of 1890 shows 58,806 Indians as residents of various States, who are not counted on the Indian rolls as such.

It is evident that with the humane treatment of this Government, and contrary to the predictions of many, the Indian is not dying out, is not becoming extinct. He is in our population, but not of it, and there is only one course to pursue, and that is so to educate each generation that it will be a stepping-stone to the final achievement of complete extinguishment of the Indian race by its absorption into the body politic of the country.

EXHIBITION OF INDIANS.

During the past year this office has refused to recommend to the Department that permission be granted for any persons or companies to take Indians for show and exhibition purposes. Among the applicants so refused was the well-known firm of Cody (Buffalo Bill) & Salisbury, which has for several years past secured Indians for its "Wild West Show."

In only two instances has permission been granted Indians to leave their reservation to take part in local celebrations. One was to attend the annual Frontier Day celebration at Cheyenne, Wyo. Indians from the Shoshone Agency, Wyo., have for several years past been allowed to participate in this celebration, and at the solicitation of Hon. Francis E. Warren, United States Senate, permission was granted August 4, 1900, for about thirty of them to do so this year. The conditions were that satisfactory arrangements would be made by the authorities having the celebration in charge for the care, protection, and expenses of the Indians; that the Government was to be at no cost whatever, and that the Indians could be spared from their homes without detriment to their interests.

August 24, 1900, permission was granted, upon the request of Hon. H. C. Hansbrough, United States Senate, for about twenty-five families with their tepees to leave the Standing Rock Reservation, N. Dak., to participate in the "harvest festival" to be held at Casselton, N. Dak. In this case the same requirements were exacted as in the former.

NEEDED PUBLICATIONS ON INDIAN MATTERS.

The suggestions made in my last report as to the need of new compilations of laws relating to Indian affairs, of executive orders concerning Indian reservations, and of treaties and agreements made with Indians are earnestly renewed. The latest edition of Laws Relating to Indian Affairs stops with March 4, 1884; Executive Orders Relating to Indian Reservations is brought down no farther than April 1, 1890, and the editions of both works are exhausted. Since these dates legislation of vital importance has been enacted, and many changes have been made in Indian reservations. Constant calls are made on the office for the old volumes and for information as to subsequent legislation and executive action. The public need can be met only by new editions of these books, which should, of course, be brought down to date.

In 1837 a compilation of Indian treaties from 1778 to date was made, under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. An inaccurate Revision of Indian Treaties then in force was made in 1873. The demand for a publication that shall contain all ratified treaties and agreements made by the United States with Indian tribes is increasing. It would be in constant use in this office and would be frequently referred to by other Government bureaus and by members of Congress as well as by the public at large.

Again I urge that Congress make an appropriation to cover the expense of compiling and issuing these three publications.

CLERKS DESIGNATED AS SPECIAL DISBURSING AGENTS.

By the fourth section of "An act to legalize the deed and other records of the Office of Indian Affairs, and to provide and authorize the use of a seal by said office," approved July 26, 1892 (27 Stat. L., p. 272), one of the employees of this office was authorized to be designated by the Commissioner as the receiving clerk, who should give bond in the sum of $1,000, etc. There is another clerk in this office, who has been appointed and designated by the Secretary of the Interior as a special disbursing officer, who is required to give bond in the sum of $2,000. There is no salary, pay, or other emolument attached to these offices for the performance of the duties thus imposed upon them.

It is now the policy of the Government to require that its bonded officers execute a bond, etc., with a duly organized bond and trust

company. I respectfully recommend that Congress be requested to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to pay from year to year, out of the contingent fund of the Department, the annual cost of the bonds thus required of these or of any other clerks in the Department where no salary or compensation is allowed or paid for the services for which the bond is given.

SPELLING OF NAMES OF INDIAN TRIBES.

It has long been recognized as unfortunate that there existed no authorized standard spelling of the names of Indian tribes and bands. Treaties, laws, reports, old and recent, have spelled the same name from one to a dozen or more different ways, each individual speller being a law unto himself. Out of the variations through a long series of years many spellings, and hence pronunciations, which are known to be corrupted, have nevertheless become generally accepted, like Chippewa, for instance, which should be Ojibwa; or Sac, which should be Sauk, etc.; or incorrect names for tribes have come into general use, as Moqui for Hopi and Sioux for Dakota.

For some years the Bureau of American Ethnology has been trying to systematize its own spelling, and the Century Dictionary of Names, with the help of the Bureau, carried the matter along a little further, although in a new edition of that work many additions and changes will have to be made.

The Government Printing Office, which follows exactly the spelling promulgated by the Board of Geographic Names, asked this office to prepare for its use a similar list of names of Indian tribes to be published in its forthcoming Manual of Style Governing Composition and Proof Reading. After consultation with the Bureau of American Ethnology such a list was prepared, which both that Bureau and the Indian Bureau, as well as the Printing Office, propose to follow in the future as the "authorized version."

Attempt was made to spell all names phonetically, but it is not claimed that the spellings adopted are as scientific and consistent as might be desired. Necessarily it was somewhat a matter of compromise since it was found inexpedient to reject spellings which have long obtained in treaties and legislation and such as have been used in geographic terms or are of foreign origin. It is too late now to undertake much of a reform in the spelling of Indian names; but uniformity is still within reach, and it is believed will be secured by the adoption of this list, which has been sent out to all agencies and schools in the Indian service. It will be found on page and is the same as that published by the Printing Office with a few additions. This revised spelling is

followed throughout this report.

COMMISSIONS.

Chippewa Commission. In previous annual reports of the office, commencing with 1889, will be found accounts of the progress of the work of the Chippewa Commission in carrying out the provisions of the act of Congress of January 14, 1889 (25 Stats., 642), entitled "An act for the relief and civilization of the Chippewa Indians in the State of Minnesota." On April 9, 1900, the commission submitted a schedule showing allotments to 4,211 Indians on the White Earth Reservation, and on July 21, 1900, a supplemental schedule was submitted, showing allotments to 160 Indians on said reservation. June 20, 1900, the Secretary of the Interior directed that the work of the Chippewa Commission be suspended and that its final accounts be closed. July 21 the commission (D. S. Hall) reported to this office that it had on that date turned over to the United States Indian agent of the White Earth Agency all its books, records, papers, etc. This closed the work of the commission.

Crow, Flathead, etc., Commission.-The appropriation for the payment of the expenses of the Crow, Flathead, etc., Commission having become exhausted, that commission was suspended November 14, 1899, in compliance with Department instructions, and the members were directed to proceed to their homes not later than the 18th of that month and to incur no money liability after that date. It was proposed by the commissioners that a deficiency appropriation be secured to continue the commission to April 1, 1900, when the same would expire by limitation of law (act March 3, 1899, 30 Stat. L., p. 1235), and also that Congress be asked to authorize its continuance for another year from April 1, 1900. The office in its report of January 5, 1900, declined, however, to recommend any further appropriation for this commission, and in Department reply of January 8, 1900, this position was concurred in and the office was instructed to so advise the commissioners. The suspension of the commission continued until April 1, 1900, when under the law it ceased to exist.

The following provision, however, was made by Congress in the deficiency appropriation act approved June 6, 1900, for continuing this commission:

For continuing after the passage of this act and during the fiscal year nineteen hundred and one the work of the commission under the act of Congress approved June tenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, to negotiate with the Crow, Flathead, and other Indians, fifteen thousand dollars, and the members of said commission shall perform such duties as may be required of them by the Secretary of the Interior. (31 Stats., 302.)

In compliance with the above provision, Messrs. James H. McNeely, of Evansville, Ind.; Charles G. Hoyt, of Beatrice, Nebr., former commissioners, and B. J. McIntire, of Kalispell, Mont., were appointed on June 25, 1900, as the members of the commission, Mr. McNeely being ignated chairman thereof, and Mr. Hoyt disbursing officer. There