ized, Christianized, and made self-sustaining, if the Government will only feed them and furnish something to clothe them until those objects can be accomplished. The question, so far as these Indians are concerned is, shall they be driven to robberies and murders for a subsistence; or shall they be fed and clothed till they can be placed upon reservations and made self-supporting?

After a thorough and prayerful investigation, I am convinced that if a war, with a cost of millions of dollars and the loss of the lives of hundreds of our citizens, results, the responsibility will rest upon the Government. I state this because I am satisfied that, with a proper liberal expenditure and a judicious management of these Indians, by a superintendent and agents who know and can manage them, a war will be averted. For the numbers, &c., of the wild tribes of New Mexico, see tabular statement herewith, marked D.

UTES.

These Indians are now discontented, (the Utes,) and positively refuse to go to Cachetopa, and on a little creek which is called Rio los Pinos, where their agency has been located. The Capote and Weminutche bands are on the reservation and come to Abiquiu for supplies, with which they are not furnished adequate to their actual necessities. An agency should be established for them at the Rio los Pinos proper, which is on their reservation, and provision furnished to them, as provided by the treaty of March, 1868. They claim that the Government has broken the treaty, in that the agency is at Cachetopa instead of at Rio los Pinos, south of the mountains, both of which places are on the reservation and both within the limits of Colorado Territory. I am fully satisfied that if the Government will make the proper and necessary appropriation to place the agency of these Indians on the Rio los Pinos, as provided by their treaty of 1868, and require the agent to live with them; forbid all citizens, except such as the agent may require or as may have business with him, from coming on the reservation; and positively prohibit the Indians from leaving the reservation, that these Indians can in a short time be made self-sustaining.

It is proper that I should state here that the dissatisfaction of these Indians induced them in the month of September to visit the Navajoes at "the Church," on the Navajoe reservation, where they prepared a peace with them and a coalition with the Navajoes against the whites. A large number of Navajoes were present, including the principal chiefs. The Utes said "that the whites intended to take the whole country and to kill all the principal men of the Navajoes." The Utes wanted to know why they (the Navajoes) allowed white men at Defiance and Wingate; and said "that they (the Utes) were going to drive all the white men from their country," and urged the Navajoes to procure guns and ammunition and prepare all their bows and arrows for service.

The Navajo chief replied, "that if the whites wanted to kill them, very well; they would remain at their homes; the whites were treating them well; they had no cause for war; if the Utes wanted war, they could fight it out themselves."

I have stated these facts to show the importance of appropriations by Congress this winter to continue to feed the Navajoes and Utes, and to carry out my recommendations in regard to the Navajoes, made in my report to the Indian Department, No. 4, dated July 19, 1870.

Mohuache Utes.-This band, located at Cimarron, are still dissatisfied, and, so far as I am informed, occupy the same position that they did when I made my report No. 5, dated September 2, 1870; next week I expect to see them, and will make an additional report in regard to them, if necessary.

The three bands of Utes who roam over the northern half of New Mexico, number as follows:

The northern half of New Mexico is roamed over by the Jicarilla Apaches. A party of them called to see me, and they represent that they are very poor and destitute, and that some of their chiefs and families have gone up to Cachetopa to get, if possible, a portion of the annuity goods sent there for the Utes. Something should be done for these Apaches; and I know nothing better than what I recommended in my reports Nos. 4 and 5, dated July 19 and September 2, 1870.

A reservation such as I have recommended, and a supply of provisions and some clothing for these Indians, if issued nowhere but at the agency on the reservation, would gather them; and the agent, if a man of judgment, could get many of them to go to planting next spring, as they are disposed to work, if encouraged.

The Jicarilla Apaches number as follows, viz: Warriors, 327; women, 349; boys, 86; girls, 102; total, 864. They own 548 horses and mules.

SOUTHERN APACHES.

The Southern Apaches, who roam over the States of Chihuahua and Sonora, of the republic of Mexico, and also in Arizona and New Mexico, but who most of the time make their home in the southwest corner of New Mexico, have, during the last ten years, shown themselves to be the most savage, barbarous, and unprincipled Indians on this continent. Their exploits in the way of murder, robberies, and torture, are unparalleled in the history of any other tribe of Indians. They have robbed mails, burned stage coaches and stage passengers and other prisoners who have fallen in their power; they have killed miners, and retarded the mining operations of one of the richest portions of the United States in gold, silver, copper, and other minerals. They are in number as follows:

The Southern Apaches have certainly been guilty of many atrocious acts, which have made widows and orphans and caused many to mourn the loss of friends and relatives, but they (the Indians) have not gone scot free, as their census fully shows, and they feel it; while they seek to justify their conduct by acts against them in 1860, when Apache Indians were hung and a number of children taken captives by a military officer, and in 1863, when their chief, Mangus Colorado, was shot at when seeking to make a peace, and his children taken prisoners. It is not my intention here to offer an opinion as to who was to blame, or to determine whether the Indians were justified in what

they acknowledge to be their bloody retaliations for the wrongs they thought they had suffered from the white man.

It is my duty rather to report to you that I have had interviews with the chiefs and headmen of all these bands, (except Cadette and José Ne Paz, of the Mescaleros,) and that I spent three days with Cochise, who claims to be the head chief of all the southern bands of Apaches, as successor to Mangus Colorado, his brother-in-law; and as I stated in my report No. 7, dated Fort Craig, October 24, “that all these Indians now desire peace," except those portions of the Mescalero band under Cadette and José Ne Paz, and that Cochise believed that he could induce them to submit to the will of the Government. Cochise is the Indian that Lieutenant Colonel Roger Jones writes about on page 223, Indian Report 1869, in which he says:

66

Cochise, the chief of the band of Coyoteros, formerly known as the Cherecahin (Chilcous) Apaches, from the mountains in which they once lived, is to-day reckoned the ablest and most vindictive Indian in Southern Arizona, and was well known to a number of officers of the Army serving in that country prior to 1860, up to which time he had been friendly to the whites, and his services frequently brought into requisition for the recovery of stock, captives, &c., which had been stolen by the bands; but in that year an ill-advised attempt to take him and his family prisoners with the view of holding them as hostages for the return of property stolen by other Indians, caused him to declare war to the knife, which he has carried on with such success and ferocity as to entitle him to the credit of having killed more whites than any other chief in the Territory south of the Gila."

This chief and 21 other headmen, with their people, to the number of 790, met me in the valley between the San Mateo Mountains and the Mimbres Mountains, and Cochise then, in behalf of all these Indians, said "that they wanted peace; that the Apaches want it, so that the whites and Indians can travel where they please, build their fires and lie down in peace; they want to be again as they were when Mangus Colorado was their chief, before he was killed, when Dr. Steck was their agent, and they raised corn, wheat, pumpkins, and chili, at Mangus Colorado's ranch on the Gila River; that he had been to Camp Thomas and did not like it there; he had come down here to hear what the Great Father had to say; that since 1860, they had been driven from place to place, and had to hide their families in the arroyos and mountains, and in war they had suffered much; many of their braves were dead, and they had now more women and children than they could feed and protect while at war; they, therefore, wanted peace, and would talk and act straight, quit stealing and behave themselves, if the Government would talk and act straight with them."

A comparison of the census of these Indians with that of the Pueblos, will show the different results between hostile Indians at war, and the agricultural Pueblo Indians at peace. I told them all that you instructed me clearly and plainly, and they agreed to endeavor to live at peace till I could make known their wants to the Government, and Cochise said that he would do all in his power to keep the Indians peaceable.

These Indians should now have a reservation or reservations selected for them so as to have farming operations commenced early next spring; and in the mean time they should be fed and clothed as I have recommended in my report No. 7. If they are not fed liberally, the result will be that they will be driven to desperation; they will then continue to steal, and it will end in the extermination of the Indians, and a war at a cost of millions of dollars, and the loss of many valuable lives and of much property to our citizens.

There are six localities proposed for reservations for these Apaches: First, near Camp Thomas, in Arizona. I have not visited this reservation in person, but have learned that it is a suitable place for the Indians, being out of the way of the settlements, and that it has abundance of arable land, wood, and water. The only objection to it is, that it would there be very expensive to obtain food and other supplies for the Indians till they can be made self-sustaining.

2d. A reservation on the Gila River, where Mangus Colorado lived, and from which he was driven by the rebel Texans in 1861.

3d. A reservation on the Mimbres River, which has not been in use for several years. As the Gila reservation is contiguous to the Pinos Altos mining region, and is in the midst of miners and settlers, and Mimbres reservation is near Liber Flats, and is surrounded by a rich mineral country, I would recommend that they be declared void as reservations, and be opened for settlement by citizens for farming and mining purposes.

4th. A tract of country, being the valley between the San Mateo and Mimbres Mountains, commencing two miles north of the Hot Springs, and running thirty miles down the valley, and twenty miles in width from the San Mateo Mountains to the Mimbres Mountains, and known as the Cañada Alamosa. There are about 300 acres under cultivation by citizens; about 2,000 acres, by judicious management, could be irrigated, and about 800 acres can be cultivated without irrigation; plenty of wood and water, with abundant grama grass on the mountain slopes, to supply every demand of the whole Southern Apache tribe.

There are living on this land 52 families, 46 residences, 2 Mexican mills, 193 persons. They value their land at $47,518, and their personal property at $9,635; and the houses, mills, and improvements, at $6,430.

The persons who occupy Cañada Alamosa have taken no steps to secure a title from the Government to the land they occupy, and if it is determined to make this a reservation for these Indians, they will have to be moved, (as I believe they have extensively engaged in trading whisky, gunpowder, &c., to the Apache Indians,) and to do this their improvements could be purchased for about $7,000, and a small sum to each, as a payment for the slight vested right that they may have in the land, on account of having occupied it for a few years.

5th. A reservation_at, and to include, the military reserve at Fort Stanton, in the county of Lincoln. This reservation was recommended by Lieutenant A. G. Hennisee, agent for these Indians, in his report to Superintendent Clinton, dated October 6, 1870. (See copy herewith, marked -.) It contains about 200 acres of farming land on the Rio Bonito, below Fort Stanton; a few small fields above that post that would do for wheat culture; 200 acres at Crook's Ranch that could be cultivated without irrigation, and 1,000 acres of excellent land on Rindoso River, between Dowling's mill and the mouth of Eagle Creek, can be cultivated. This reservation contains grazing for 10,000 head of cattle, winter and summer. It is bounded by natural boundaries, which should include the entire valley of each river to prevent persons from settling, which they cannot do if not allowed to use the water. Bonito River is about 10 feet wide and 8 inches deep, Rindoso River about 15 feet feet wide and 1 foot deep, and Eagle Creek 6 feet wide and 6 inches deep; all clear cold mountain streams, containing trout. There is also an abundance of timber on the reservation.

There are few, not more than four citizens, who have purchased from the Government and have paid for lands on this reservation, not to exceed, in all, one section, (640 acres,) which, if a reservation is established here, should be purchased, so as to leave the reservation free from the claims of citizens.

The proposed reservation would, in my opinion, suit for the Mescalero Apaches, who would prefer it to any place west of the Rio Grande; and I think that Cadette and his bands would consent to live there, but all the other bands, from what they told me, including Cochise, would prefer a place west of the Rio Grande. and could not be induced to locate there.

6th. A reservation on the Tularosa River, west of the Rio del Norte (Rio Grande,) and about 80 miles west of the town of Socorro, Socorro County, New Mexico. I cannot ascertain whether this proposed reservation is in New Mexico or in Arizona. One thing is certain; it is a suitable place, being outside of all present settlements. A reservation 40 miles square here would be the best place, in my judgment, for all the Southern Apaches except the Mescaleros, as the Indians themselves, I believe, would prefer it to any other location, and as it would place them in a position to be entirely free from the vile whisky-sellers and more wicked traders in ammunition, and afford a place where they would have sufficient land for cultivation and pasturage, with wood and water in abundance, and until they can sustain themselves supplies could be obtained from the Rio Grande Valley at as moderate prices as at any other of the places proposed.

It is proper to remark here that Doctors J. T. Harnet and A. D. Thorn, with twentyfour citizens, gave notice that they wished to take homesteads in this country. As they have not yet settled, and the land has not been surveyed, and their notice to the register of the land office was not legal, they have been informed that they should delay their settlements till it is decided that they can legally locate in that country. The object in placing these savage Apaches on reservations outside the settlements, and away from all the wicked traders who encourage them to steal, and subsisting them there until they can be self-supporting, is, that it is thought to be the only policy which is likely to prove successful in civilizing these Indians, and thereby preventing their constant wars against the whites, and finally their utter extermination. I therefore recommend the establishment of two reservations as follows, viz:

1. A reservation for the Mescalero Apaches to be located on the Rio Feliz, east of Fort Stanton in New Mexico, 20 miles square, which will be ample in every respect for the 760 Indians of this band.

2. A reservation 40 miles square for the Coyotero, Chilicous, Mimbres, Gila, and Mogollon bands of Apaches, and for any other Apache bands who by mutual consent may agree to occupy it, to be located on the Tularosa River, or at other suitable locality in their country in the Sierra Blanca (White Mountains,) and west of the Rio del Norte (Rio Grande,) and west beyond the Socorro Mountains in the county of Socorro, New Mexico.

I would respectfully recommend that no treaty be made with those Indians, but that the reservations be surveyed and the agency buildings be erected, and that then the Indians be told that if they are found off their reservations they will be considered as at war and be dealt with accordingly, and, till the reservations are thus determined upon, that these Indians be fed, if they remain at peace, at Cañada Alamosa agency. The sale of whisky and ammunition to these Indians by citizens and certain Pueblo

Indians and the consequent constant murders and robberies can only be prevented by the isolation of the Indian from the settlements. During the past summer every effort has been made by the agents and military officers, with the coöperation of the United States district attorney, to have the guilty citizens punished, but without success. Owing to the peculiar position of things in this county, we who have endeavored to prevent this wicked traffic have failed, and some of us have had our lives threatened, while others, both agents and military officers, are now harassed in our courts and sued for damages, and in one case the agent was sentenced to three months' imprisonment because he attempted to stop the sale of whisky to Indians, and endeavored to compel the traders to give up the stolen animals they had obtained from the Indians.

Copy forwarded to Vincent Colyer, secretary, for information of Board of Indian Commissioners.

APPENDIX 314.

INVITATION FOR COCHISE, CHIEF OF THE APACHES, TO VISIT WASHINGTON.

BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS,
Washington, D. C., January 7, 1871.

SIR: Recent reports from the agent of the Apaches in New Mexico, a copy of one of which I inclose, show that Cochise and other headmen of the Apaches of Arizona and New Mexico have visited the agency and expressed a desire to come in and be at peace.

Remembering the great good which resulted from the visit of Red Cloud and other Sioux chiefs to the East, and considering the loss of life and expense which the war with the Apaches of Arizona has cost us, I respectfully submit for your consideration the question whether it would not be wise and economical to invite Cochise and his braves to visit Washington and arrange terms of peace.

Should the proposal meet with your approval, the honorable Commissioner of Indian