OSAGES.

The Osages have 50 children attending the Catholic Mission school. The annual school fund is $3,000. They have recently come into the Territory, and are not yet fully settled. They are beginning life anew, and it is hoped with better prospects of advancement in education than they have heretofore enjoyed. Their population is between three and four thousand.

CONFEDERATED PEORIAS, ETC.

The last census of Confederated Peorias shows the population to be 170. They have one school located among them, having been in operation about two months. Number of children attending school is about 25. The school fund is the interest on from thirty-five to forty thousand dollars, invested fund.

OTTAWAS.

The Ottawas have a provision for education in their treaty of 1862-setting apart 20,000 acres of their land for the support of schools, and one section for school buildings. This land is near the city of Ottawa, and is valuable. They number 175 souls and have a school in successful operation of 52 scholars.

Population of Shawnees

Population of Wyandotts

Population of Senecas

These tribes have no schools among them.

80

160

188

SACS AND FOXES.

The Sacs and Foxes number about seven hundred, and have a school fund stipulated by treaty, amounting to $5,000 annually.

QUAPAWS.

The Quapaws number 236 souls. No school fund reported.

Your committee are informed that measures are in progress for opening schools at an early day among the Quapaws, Senecas, Wyandotts, Osages, Sacs and Foxes, and Absentee Shawnees; the latter numbering about six hundred souls.

From the foregoing, your committee find the population of nations represented in the general council to be about sixty thousand; number of schools, 140; pupils attending school in the Territory and in the States, 4,800; amount of school fund expended annually in support of schools is about $163,000.

In conclusion, your committee would state that, in their opinion, nothing now so much retards educational advancement of the people of the Territory as their want of confidence in the permanency of their political institutions, growing out of the constant agitation, in and out of Congress, of the question of extending over these nations a territorial form of government, created by congressional enactment. It is not necessary for your committee to state that the measure is utterly repugnant to every Indian in the Territory; but, cheered by the words of hope from the representatives of the Government of the United States visiting us during the present session of the general council, and reposing full confidence in the distinguished head of that great nation, we are led to believe that a brighter day is dawning upon the Indian. The government proposed by the general council-to be established over the Indian Territory-to be administered by Indians for themselves-is one founded on and growing out of treaty relations with the United States, and depends for its perpetuity not upon armies and navies, but upon the honor and good faith of that Government. It must be defended by the patriotism and intelligence of its sons.

JAMES M. C. SMITH, Chairman Committee on Education.

THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION.

The following is a synopsis:

The population of the Choctaw Nation is from 16,000 to 17,000. They have 48 public schools. They will soon have two boarding-schools in operation, one for each sex, and they have twenty youths at school in the States. Their annual school-fund is $30,000. The whole number of children attending school this year is 1,460.

The population of the Cherokees is 17,000. Their annual school-fund amounts to about $50,000. They have about 48 public schools, three of which are exclusively for colored children. The whole number of pupils is 1,928. The orphans of the nation are boarded

and clothed by the interest of the orphan fund. There is one mission school carried on by the Moravians, and there are several private schools.

The population of the Creeks or Muskogees is 13,000. They have twenty-two public schools and will soon have nine more, making thirty-one-under the management of a superintendent of public instruction. They pay their teachers $400 for ten months' services. They have one boarding-school in operation and another nearly ready, each of which will accommodate eighty pupils. The superintendents and teachers of these boarding-schools are paid by the Methodists and Presbyterians, and the other expenses by the nation. Six of their public schools are exclusively for colored children. Their annual school fund is $24,758. The average number of pupils this year is 700.

The population of the Seminoles is 2,500. They have four public schools. The entire number of pupils is 225. The mission school, under the care of Mr. Ramsey, will soon be moved into the new building, which will accommodate 50 pupils. Their annual school fund is $2,500.

The population of the Chickasaw Nation is 5,400. They have 11 public schools. The whole number of pupils is 440. Their annual school fund is $50,000. They keep 60 children at school in the States at an annual cost of $350 each.

The population of the Osages is from 3,000 to 4,000. They have 50 pupils at the Catholic mission. Their annual school fund is $3,000.

The population of the Peorias is 170. They have one school of 25 pupils and an annual school fund of $2,000.

The Ottawas have one school of 52 pupils.

APPENDIX 37.

The Indian country-its extent, fertility, streams, &c.—The climate and productions, &c., &c. [Special correspondence of the Republican.]

FORT GIBSON, INDIAN TERRITORY,
December 16, 1870.

A FERTILE REGION.

Lapping on the southwest corner of Missouri, and lying coterminous to the southern border of Kansas and the western border of Arkansas, is one of the richest and most fertile regions in the United States, set apart by solemn treaty and stipulations for the occupancy of various Indian tribes.

EXTENT.

It is 382 miles long, 208 miles wide, and contains 70,456 square miles. It therefore contains 50,000,000 acres of land, and would make seventy States of the size of Rhode Island, and two the size of New York, the empire State of the Union. Of this magnificent domain I have the authority of Mr. Reynolds, a gentleman who has traveled extensively through the country, for stating that there is scarcely a quarter-section that is not susceptible of cultivation. This writer says it is far superior to Kansas, Nebraska, or Missouri as a stock and fruit-growing country.

THE PRINCIPAL STREAMS

that irrigate the country are the Arkansas, navigable to Fort Gibson, the Red Fork of the Arkansas, the Grand or Neosho River, the Verdigris, coming down from the north and emptying into the Arkansas at Fort Gibson. On the east side of the Arkansas is the Illinois River, rising in the mountainous regions southeast of Fort Gibson, said to be one of the prettiest rivers on the continent, sparkling with crystal waters. West of the Arkansas are the Canadian, with its tributaries, the North Fork, Deep Fork, Little River, We-wo-ka and numerous affluents. Besides these main streams, the country is abundantly watered by small streams and creeks that are nameless on the map.

THE SOIL, ETC.

The climate of this favored region is delightful the larger portion of the year, and the grass remains green all winter. The soil is well adapted to corn, wheat, oats, cotton, tobacco, and the whole family of garden vegetables. As a fruit country it is unsurpassed, and wild grapes grow abundantly. In commenting on the prolific character of the soil, it was observed by one of our party that efforts should be made to procure improved breeds of stock, and better varieties of seed grain of all descriptions. In answer to the suggestion, Mr. Goss, of Chetopa, remarked that the results of experience

taught that seed grain, brought from a northern latitude, did not thrive well here, that the crop of most grains became deteriorated, and that it was essential that grain and vegetables to thrive well must become acclimated in order to be productive.

FARMING OPERATIONS.

But if there are climatic obstacles as to northern seeds in the territory, there can be none in introducing improved agricultural utensils and implements of husbandry. On this score, those who till the soil labor under great disadvantages. At Cow Tom's, otherwise called Bovine Thomas, where the commissioners stopped over night, an opportunity offered to witness some of the farming operations.

Cow Tom is an intelligent negro of the Creek persuasion. During the Florida war he was interpreter for General Jesup, and was the body servant of Lieutenant Lane, when that unfortunate young officer committed suicide by falling on his sword, the point of the weapon entering the brain just above the eye. Cow Tom is the proprietor of a plantation-under a good state of fencing. He purchased the improvement since the war for $150. He is entitled by the Creek laws to all the land that he can put under fence and properly cultivate, with the privilege of keeping off his neighbors at arm's length, as settlements are not allowed nearer any occupant than each quarter of a mile. The reason for this custom, as adopted by the early Indian lawgivers, was to break up the habit of congregating in villages, growing out of the tribal relation, obliging the Indians to scatter about and become independent proprietors. Wild tribes of nomadic habits are accustomed to wandering about and huddling together for mutual safety and defense.

Cow Tom this season has raised fine crops of corn, cotton, and chickens, sufficient to render comfortable a large family of children and grandchildren who lean on him for support. But owing to the distance from mills, he pounds his corn in a mortar with a wooden pestle, and the yield of cotton, raised exclusively for home consumption, has to be "ginned" with the fingers, and carded by hand. For breaking up the prairie he used the old-fashioned "bull plow," such as was in use before the invention of the "wood patent." By long service the plow point, from constant filing, has become worn up to the mould-board. It should be stated that farmers nearer the States, especially among the Cherokees, Senecas, Quapaws, Peorias, and other advanced tribes, have introduced improved farming implements to a considerable extent.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

Our fare at Cow Tom's was relished with a keen appetite, and there were neat quilts on the beds, of home manufacture. There is a comfortable school-house near by, where the children are taught to read. There is no physician nearer than Fort Gibson, distant 33 miles, and the inhabitants have a goodly prospect of dying a natural death.

THE INDIANS AND THEIR LANDS.

The population of the Indian Territory is estimated at 53,000, thus giving every man, woman, and child about 1,000 acres a head. Strong efforts are making by outside parties to sectionize the magnificent domain, but the proposition is looked upon with exceeding distrust by the Indians. They deprecate, as is quite natural, outside interference in their affairs, and wish to be governed in their own way. And when it is recollected that they were forced, by harassing wars, to move from the homes of their nativity in Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida, beyond the Mississippi, and have been exposed to fraud, falsehood, and treachery; and finally, to save themselves from extermination, consented to remove here, where no white man would then dare to live, is it not reasonable that they should be left alone and unmolested? What people have a better right to their lands, ceded to them in perpetuity by solemn treaties, and of which they were the first occupants? But the resistless tide of emigration is pressing on their borders. Railroad monopolies and greedy speculators are coveting their rich lands, and were it not for the just and humane policy of the leading men in authority at Washington, these civilized tribes would be fated to melt away before the white men like snow before the sun. Unscrupulous speculators look upon these lands with the same greedy eyes that Ichabod Crane, of Sleepy Hollow memory, regarded the rich buckwheat fields of old Baltus Van Tassel, his expectant father-in-law, feeding his eyes upon "sugared suppositions" until outrivaled in the affections of Katrine by his redoubtable opponent, Brom Bones.

FAIR DEALING.

A shameful page in our history can only be wiped out by dealing fairly with these people who are now assembled in council at Okmulgee, conducting its proceedings in as dignified a manner as any deliberative body that it has been my fortune to witness.

There is little doubt that a general government will be established, and a fresh impetus be given to enterprise, the construction of roads and bridges, the building of mills, and the improvement of the country. The wild tribes will be invited in to participate in the advantages of those who have preceded them in the career of civilization, and no doubt this will be the surest method of solving the problem in relation to nomadic tribes who have given the Government so much trouble.

THE CHEROKEES.

From various sources the following summary may be given of the population and funds, held in trust by the Government, of the leading civilized tribes. The Cherokees number about 16,000. The exact number I neglected to obtain at Tahlequah, as the census has just been completed. Ten years ago the tribe numbered 20,000, or, according to one statement, 25,000, but owing to the ravages of war the population was depleted. The Cherokees own in fee simple 4,000,000 acres of land, and the United States Government holds in trust for them $4,000,000 upon which annual interest is paid. In proportion to their number, previous to the war, the Cherokees were the wealthiest people on the globe, as a nation. They owned immense herds, one individual alone owning 20,000 head of cattle. Others owned 15,000, 10,000, and so down to 300, and the man who owned less was considered a poor Indian. An officer estimates that not less than 300,000 head of stock were stolen from the Indian Territory during the war. The aggregate value of stock stolen by both armies during the war is estimated at $15,000,000. A tax of 50 cents is exacted per head of Texas cattle passing through each tribe. The Cherokee State seal is a seven-pointed star, symbolic of the seven clans into which the nation was formerly divided. The seal is surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves, and the words, "Seal of the Cherokee Nation."

THE CREEKS.

This tribe numbers 14,800, the females outnumbering the males about 1,500. Ten years ago the population reached 21,000. They own nearly 4,000,000 acres of land, and the United States Government holds in trust for them $1,519,000. Preparations for taking the census this season were made by the agent, Captain Field, when instructions were received countermanding the order.

The present chief of the Creek Nation is Samuel Chicote, a very able man.

A rival named Oc-ter-sus Hargo, or Sands, a delegate of the general council, claims that he was defrauded out of the office of chief by the partisans of Chicote. He made a statement of the case before the Indian commissioners. It seems that after the death of O-poth-le-yo-ho-la, the chief of the loyal Creeks, who was an able leader, Sands succeeded him, and some difficulty arose growing out of that question. The feud came near ending in a rupture. Sands headed the delegation that negotiated the treaty of 1866, at Washington. He said it was agreed between him and the opposing faction to leave the election of a chief to the people, but that, through a fraudulent counting of votes, Chicote was elected. The commissioners declined to have anything to do with the matter, but Mr. Lang suggested, that as the matter had been reported to the agent and accepted at Washington as a finality, and as a new election for chief takes place next fall, he advised forbearance as the best policy and to let the matter drop.

FINANCES.

By the treaty of 1866 the Creeks ceded to the Government, to be used for the settlement thereon of other Indians, the west half of their domain, estimated at 3,250,000 acres of land, for which the United States agreed to pay $975,168, in the following manner: $200,000 to enable the Creeks to re-occupy and restore their farms and improvements, to pay the damage to mission schools, and to pay the salary of delegates to Washington; $100,000 to pay for losses of soldiers enlisted in the United States Army, and to loyal refugees and freedmen; $400,000 to be paid per capita to Creeks as it may accrue from the sale of bonds; interest on the last two sums at 5 per cent., to be used for the Creeks at the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and the remaining sum, $275,000, to be invested at 5 per cent. and the interest paid to the Creeks annually. An amount not exceeding $10,000 was also to be expended by the United States for the erection of agency buildings, which were located last week near Okmulgee.

SEMINOLES.

This tribe, located directly west of the Creek reservation, numbers 2,160. It is a small tribe, but their forefathers fought bravely in Florida. Their decrease during the last ten years has been 10 per cent. Their reservation contains 200,000 acres, and the Government holds in trust for them $670,000. The brother of Osceola, the most inveterate of all the Seminole chiefs, who, with Micanopy and Wild Cat, held the United

States troops at bay for years, is still on the reservation. Wild Cat's old band are in New Mexico. They number about sixty.

A VETERAN.

The old interpreter for General Jackson, the negro Abraham, is still alive on Little River at the advanced age of 120 years. A gentleman saw him the other day. Joshua R. Giddings, in his "Exiles of Florida," says that Abraham was, perhaps, the most influential man among the exiles. He had been a witness and interpreter in making the treaty at Payne's Landing, and dictated the important provisions in the supplementary treaty. He exerted his influence in favor of emigration. To him, therefore, his people looked with more confidence than to any other individual. In all his intercourse with all our officers, he had been assured of the intention to fulfill those treaties, and when he found the Government hesitating on that point he became indignant, and so did others of his band. Abraham always retained great influence with his people. About two hundred and sixty Seminoles still live in Florida, among the mountains and everglades.

The present chief of the nation is John Chupeo. He came with the last emigration from Florida, in 1856. The Seminoles in 1866 sold their entire old country, 1,169,000 acres, and were removed fifty miles east to a reservation of 200,000 acres, purchased for them from the Creeks. The capital is We-wo-ka. They have a council form of government, and are said to be further advanced in civilization than the Creeks. They number about 400 members of the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches. The Presbyterian board of missions are building a mission school-house. They have four district schools, with an average attendance last year of 77 children. Only one white man, E. J. Brown, formerly a member of the Kansas legislature, now a delegate at Okmulgee, has been adopted by the tribe. There is only one half-breed family in the nation. There are 400 negroes having all the rights of citizens. The Indians and negroes do not intermarry. Colonel Jumper commanded a regiment during the war; the rest went to Kansas with O-poth-le-yo-ho-la, of the Creek Nation, who died in Leavenworth and was buried with military honors. His daughter, the other day, received a pension of $1,260. The chief of the Seminoles, Chupeo, is the tallest walker in the nation. The other day he walked from Little River to Fort Gibson, a distance of ninety niles, between sun and sun. The meaning of Seminole in the Creek dialect is "runaway," used in reference to the escape of the tribe from the Creeks from Georgia to Florida about the year 1736. Wild Cat died in New Mexico. His son came to the agency and S. A. Reynolds, the agent, gave him supplies.

THE CHOCTAWS.

This tribe numbers 15,000. It is the most southern reservation in the Indian territory and is 175 miles from north to south and 200 miles from east to west in extent. It is separated from Texas by the Red River, and the Arkansas and Canadian bound the nation on the north. The capital is Chapta Tomaha. The capitol building cost $16,000. It is a two-story brick 90 feet in length. They have a senate and house of representatives. The principal chief is William Bryant. The agency of the Choctaws and Chickasaws is at Bogy Depot. The laws form a neat printed volume, and were compiled by Joseph P. Folsom, a full-blood Choctaw, a member of the Okmulgee council. Folsom graduated at Dartmouth College. He is profound in Latin and Greek, and thinks the English nothing but a borrowed language. He says the Choctaws have no jailsthey punish with the lash. For theft the prisoner has his arms grasped round a tree, and receives from 39 to 100 lashes. The sheriff uses a hickory gad.

INDIAN WITCHCRAFT.

The following extract from the printed statutes shows that the Choctaws are somewhat in advance of our Puritan fathers:

"Any person who shall kill another for a witch or wizard shall suffer death. And any person who shall publicly state that he himself, or she herself, is a witch or wizard, or shall say that such a person or persons are witches or wizards, and he or she knows it to be so, shall receive sixty lashes on the bare back."

Of course, in this enlightened law it will be seen how history repeats itself, and how the star of empire has been moving westward since Bishop Berkely's day.

THE CHICKASAWS.

This nation is included among the Choctaws, and they number about 4,800. The Government holds in trust for the Choctaws $1,385,000, and for the Chickasaws $400,000. The laws of both nations are in common, but the Chickasaws are under a different