announcing their action were addressed to the commission. (See correspondence in Appendix 24.) On the receipt of this information, the Secretary of the Interior applied to the Indian Office for the location of the various mission schools in the Indian country, and finding but little information on the subject in that office, applied to the secretary of the board, requesting him to furnish information, and to draw up an outline sketch of how the agencies should be allotted to the several missionary societies. (See Appendix 25.) The brief report which the secretary of the board made in reply to this request was accompanied with a map, on which was marked out, in different hues with water color, the various Indian agencies and the Christian denominations to which they could be assigned in harmony with the mission work already begun at the agencies. This letter and map formed the initial guide to the present allotments. Some portions of the Indian country, such as California, Oregon, and Washington Territory, were left unassigned. They have since been assigned to the Methodist and Catholic churches. The Nez Perces reservation in Idaho and the Umatilla in Oregon were, by mistake, assigned, the former to the Roman Catholics and the latter to the Methodists. On the visit of the secretary of the board to that country in the fall he discovered the error, and on his reporting the facts to the Interior Department, by direction of the President, the errors were corrected.

ACT OF CONGRESS GRANTING SUPERVISORY POWERS TO THE BOARD.

Towards the close of the last session of Congress statements were made at the office of the board, by persons whose positions apparently afforded them opportunity for obtaining correct information, that large contracts for beef, flour, &c., were being given out by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs without advertising, and at prices considerably beyond what ought to have been paid. Without giving credence to these stories, the secretary of the board inquired of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs if any contracts had been given and at what prices. He promptly informed the secretary that a large contract had lately been given out without advertising, but that the prices were low, and that the reason he had so hurriedly made the purchases was because of the immediate need of food in Dakota, &c. At an interview had soon after with the Secretary of the Interior the secretary of the board referred to these complaints and gave the honorable Commissioner's explanation of them. Secretary Cox said he had heard such stories, but that he believed them unworthy of notice. A few days later, in an interview on other points with the chairmen of the Committees on Indian Appropriations for the Senate and House of Representatives, these gentlemen asked the secretary of the board if he had heard these rumors; he told them he had, and gave them the Commissioner's explanation and the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior. They then inquired what were the powers of the commission in such an emergency. The secretary then showed to them the executive order of the President, granting power to the board of commissioners to examine all accounts, reports, contracts, &c. After considering the subject they resolved to give this order the form of law and place it in the body of the Indian appropriation bill, then before these committees. They then introduced the following amendments to section 3 of the act making appropriation for the expenses of the Indian Department for the year ending June 30, 1871: And the commission of citizens serving without pay appointed by the President under the provisions of the fourth section of the act of April 10, 1869, is hereby contin

ued so long as the appropriation heretofore made for their expenses shall last. And it shall be the duty of said commissioners to supervise all expenditures of money appropriated for the benefit of Indians in the United States, and to inspect all goods purchased for said Indians in connection with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose duty it shall be to consult said commission in making purchases of such goods.

When this clause was read by Secretary Cox, a doubt arose in his mind as to its meaning; "whether so specific as that an official representative of the board should audit all bills of the Indian Department or not?" or "whether it was only general in its application;" and on consulting with some of the members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations he said they had concluded that it meant simply that the board should exercise general supervision, having knowledge of, and to be consulted about, all contracts, purchases of goods, payments of money, &c., made by the Indian Department. Seeing that there might be a question raised as to its real meaning, and wishing to be fortified with the opinion of those who had framed the bill, the secretary of the board addressed a note of inquiry to the Hon. Aaron A. Sargent, of the House Sub-Committee on Indian Appropriations, (see Appendix 26,) and received from him the reply from which the following is an extract: (See Appendix 27.)

Congress desires that your commission shall oversee and advise in all contracts for, or purchases of, Indian goods; shall see that the articles bought are suitable and the prices reasonable; that the kind and amount of goods contracted for are delivered; that annuities are properly paid; that presents are justly and judiciously given; in short, that you shall supervise all expenditures of money appropriated for the Indians. It makes it the duty also of the Indian Commissioner to consult your board in all purchases for the Indians. You do not expend the money, for that is the duty of the Commissioner, but you have a right to know of and advise in all expenditures, all receipts for goods, &c. In case of a difference of opinion between your board and the officer charged with the disbursements, you can only advise and report to the Secretary the facts which induce your dissent.

On the 3d of June, 1870, the chairman of the board addressed a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, asking when he proposed to make the purchase of annuity goods, and informed him that the subcommittee of the board were ready to assist him whenever he should ask for their aid. (See Appendix 28.) A reply was not received to this note until the 18th of July, when the Commissioner answered that he would be in New York on the 21st of the month (he afterwards postponed it to the 27th) with a view to making the necessary purchases, and that he would be happy to meet any of the commissioners. The board was immediately called to meet in New York, to advise with the Commissioner in regard to purchases. (See report on purchases.) At the same time communications were received from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, through the Secretary of the Interior, asking that members of the board be requested to visit Red Cloud and the Ogallalla Sioux near Fort Laramie, to locate an agency and trading post; to visit Spotted Tail and the Brulé Sioux on the Missouri River, to select a new reservation for them on the White River; (see report on visiting Red Cloud ;) to visit the Osages in Southern Kansas, and arrange with them for the sale of their lands and removal to the Indian Territory; (see report on visiting Osages;) also, to witness certain large payments of money to the Pottawatomies, Quapaws, Creeks, and other Indian tribes in Kansas and Indian Territory. (See report on payment of Quapaws.)

Felix R. Brunot and Robert Campbell were the committee appointed to visit Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, and John V. Farwell, John D. Lang, and Vincent Colyer were appointed a committee to attend to the business with the Osages and to supervise the payment to the Quapaws, Creeks, and other tribes. John V. Farwell and Vincent Colyer were

also appointed a committee to visit, inspect, and report upon the condition of the Indian tribes on the Pacific slope.

PURCHASING THE ANNUITY GOODS.

The committee on purchases of Indian goods of last year, Messrs. George H. Stuart, Robert Campbell, William E. Dodge, and John V. Farwell, were continued for the present year. This committee, with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, proceeded at once to arrange for the purchase and inspection of the annuity goods for the ensuing year.

An improvement on the old method of advertising for goods was introduced, by which parties proposing to sell should furnish samples of their goods, with the prices attached, instead of being compelled, as heretofore, to conform to a sample on hand in the Indian Department, which sample, being the work of one party, it was perhaps impossible for another dealer to furnish, while, at the same time, it might be that he could furnish another superior article at less price. Great care was also taken by this committee to see that sufficient publicity was given to the advertisement for proposals, and that copies reached most of the reliable merchants and manufacturers engaged in the business, and bids were directed to be received for specific articles and quantities, instead of for classes, containing different kinds of goods, as heretofore has been the practice.

Provision was also made for the most thorough inspection of the goods by an appointee of the board, to see that they conformed to the samples before being accepted. The successful and marked result of these measures is more fully set forth in the report of the sub-committee on purchases, which will be found annexed. The goods purchased were of a better quality than has been supplied to the Indian Department for many years, and were furnished at prices much below what they would have been under the old methods of purchasing. (Page 21.) The committee who visited the Osages accomplished their object in a satisfactory manner, and it is now believed that this tribe will go to their new homes in the Indian Territory cheerfully, feeling that their removal is an act of their own choice, and that the Government has dealt with them justly and liberally. For interesting details on this subject, see the accompanying report of the committee on visiting the Osages, herewith annexed. (See page 17.)

VISIT TO RED CLOUD.

Commissioners Brunot and Campbell, appointed "to visit Red Cloud and Ogallalla Sioux, to encourage the peaceful disposition evinced by the chiefs, and to inspire them with confidence in the just intentions of the Government toward them," were also requested to secure a suitable place for Red Cloud's agency within the Indian country, and superintend the delivery of the annuity goods. This committee held important councils at Fort Laramie with the Northern Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Minneconjoux, Sioux, and a portion of the Brulés. They also held coun cils at Denver, in Colorado, with Colorado's band of Utes. At Omaha they inspected the working of the northern superintendency in Nebraska, under the care of N. E. Janney. Owing to the delays common to negotiations in which Indians are a party, this committee spent nearly two months in that field, and hence were compelled to forego their intended visit to the Sioux on the Missouri River. Accompanying this will be found a general report of the work of this committee on their visit to

Red Cloud. The good impressions made by the just treatment of the Osages on the southern border of the plains, and of the Sioux on the north, and the prompt delivery of goods of a superior quality to Red Cloud's band, together with the assurances made by the commissioners that both these nations should be undisturbed in the quiet possession of their reservations, so pacified these warlike tribes that an expensive war was averted, and the foundation for a peace with them was laid, which, in the opinion of this board, may be made permanent if similar wise measures are continued.

The middle of September having arrived before the completion of the above duties, so little time remained prior to the assembling of Congress for the completion of the unfinished work of the commission, the task was necessarily divided. Commissioner Lang went to supervise the payments to be made to the Creeks, Pottawatomies, and Quapaws; and Commissioner Colyer undertook the tour to the tribes in Idaho and Oregon, Commissioner Farwell being unable to accompany him, owing to the destruction by fire of his extensive warehouse in Chicago.

CREEK AND QUAPAW PAYMENTS.

Commissioner Lang has reported that the payments to the Creeks and Pottawatomies, so far as he could see, were properly made. He further reports that when the payments were made to the Quapaws, he saw a man called General Blunt sitting at the table near the Government paymaster, who represented that the Indians had agreed to give him one-third of the $90,000 for services which he said he had rendered to them in getting this appropriation through Congress. Commissioner Lang reports that he objected to the payment of the $30,000, and that he advised the paymaster to suspend the payment until instructions could be received from Washington, which the paymaster declined to do. The chairman of the board immediately presented this subject to the Secretary of the Interior, calling his attention to this case.

THE ONEIDAS.

A communication was received by the chairman from Bishop Armitage, of Wisconsin, concerning the present condition of the Oneidas, and the proposition before the last session of Congress to remove them from their present location near Green Bay in that State. Commissioner Colyer, at the request of the chairman, in company with Bishop Armitage, visited that tribe on his way to the Pacific slope.

The Oneidas were removed from the State of New York over thirty years ago, and have rapidly advanced in civilization since that time. Many of them have as good houses, barns, fences, &c., as the average of white people in their neighborhood; and the two churches and schoolhouses, under the care of the Episcopal and Methodist church societies, are decent and commodious buildings, capable of accommodating one hundred and fifty persons each. (See Appendix 38.)

On their farms they are using reaping and threshing machines, the personal property of the Indians; and a stranger passing through their country could not distinguish it from a prosperous white man's settlement. There is a difference of opinion among them as to the expediency of having their land divided up in severalty; the majority of the tribe, however, being opposed to it.

IDAHO AND NORTHEASTERN.

Commissioner Colyer, while examining into the condition of Indian affairs in Idaho, at Boise City, became convinced that the office of general superintendent of that Territory was unnecessary and ought to be dispensed with; he telegraphed this opinion to the Secretary of the Interior, who, under the direction of the President, promptly abolished the office. He visited the Umatilla reservation in Oregon and the Nez Perces reservation in Idaho, and returned by way of Portland and San Francisco, and obtained much information concerning the condition of Indian affairs in Alaska. For details of this tour see report of Commissioner Colyer on his trip to Idaho and Oregon, herewith annexed. (See page 29.)

THE COUNCIL AT OCKMULGEE, INDIAN TERRITORY.

It being deemed important that a committee of this board should attend a convention of the different tribes to form a confederation, or territorial government in the Indian Territory, agreeably to their treaty stipulations, the chairman appointed Commissioners Robert Campbell, John V. Farwell, and John D. Lang to visit the counsel at Ockmulgee. A full report of their visit to this important and interesting council is herewith annexed. (See page 25.)

Regarding this movement among the Indians for local government in the Indian Territory framed by themselves, and their willingness to invite the wild tribes to become their neighbors, to engage in agricultural pursuits, and to participate in their proposed government, as hopeful indications of a more rapid progress of civilization. The board passed the following resolution at its meeting January 16, 1871:

Resolved, That this board respectfully and earnestly solicit the President of the United States to recommend to Congress such legislation as may be deemed necessary to encourage and secure permanency to the government organized by the Indians, in the Indian Territory, for the benefit of themselves and their race; and also such legislation as may be deemed necessary for the absolute protection of the Indian Territory, both east and west of the ninety-sixth parallel of west longitude, from settlement by the whites, in order that it may be preserved permanently for the location of such other tribes of Indians as may from time to time be induced to settle thereon; and that this resolution be forwarded by the chairman of the board to the President of the United States, through the Secretary of the Interior.

THE APACHES OF ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO.

In the report of the board of last year, (pages 54 and 55,) attention was called to the condition of the Apache Indians of Arizona and New Mexico, and of the wish of a portion of that tribe to come in and settle on a reservation. The information contained therein, which was obtained from the personal visit of the secretary of the board, as well as from the reports of the agent of the Indian Department, was accompanied with the recommendation "that they should be attended to without delay, and many lives and much treasure could thus be saved."

Following up this recommendation, efforts were made to have an appropriation for these Apaches inserted in the Indian appropriation bill of last year, but without success. Since that time, a very limited amount of subsistence, all that the Department felt free to allow, has been dealt out to them.

On his return from Idaho, the secretary of the board, finding that nothing adequate to meet this emergency had yet been inaugurated, addressed a communication to the Secretary of the Interior, requesting him to recommend to Congress that an appropriation of $100,000 be