Arizona citizen., 1878-03-29
Among the PiIRas.

We had occasion, since last issue to take little trip among the Pimas.
 Leaving Florence early last Friday morning, we spent four days among the various villages of these Indians they are very quiet, industrious peo- ple, and claim never to have shed the
 blood of a white man. These Indians have always been selfsustainihg, and the wheat raised by the Pimas has no superior in any section of the United
 States
 During the last three years many of the Pimas have been obliged to leave their reservation for want of sufficient
 water to irrigate their crops. They have taken up handsome tracts of
 land on the Gila and Salt rivers where
 water is sufficient. The land has
 been well cleared and prepared, large .ditches have been taken out and al- ready several crops have been raised on this land outside of the reservation limits. We are informed that the main irrigating canal on Salt river, is kept clean almost exclusively by the la or of Pima and Maricopa Indians, and for this labor the Americans allow them the water necessary to irrigate their crops. The wheat sown this spring is looking very thrifty, and the
 Indians living off the reservation are sure of good crop. Probably not more than half of the Indians are liv-
 ing on the reseryatIC and unless we have more rain il is feared lat half of the grain planted by these will
 be destroyed by drouth.
 These Indians could sever their tribal relations and take up land in severalty, but they do not seem dis posed to avail themselves of the ad
 vantages of this law. Delegate Stevens Informed us in a letter published few
 weeks since that the Government had decided to order Agent Stout to bring all tic Indians of his agency within the limits of his reservation. This movement would seem both unjust and unwise These Indians have by I great labor and industry reclaimed | a considerable amount of good land without encr0aching upon the rights of white settlers, and it would be un- | just 10 deprive them of the benefits of their labor. Should the Indians be placed upon tue reservation it will | be necessary for the government 10 feed them, and it would be most un- wise to remove selfsustaining Indians from their fruitful lands to nOn-pro- ducing sections and begin feeding them.
 Agent Stout has had charge of these Indians for more than five years, his efficiency as Agent is well understood and appreciated. He has ever been deslrous of protecting the settlers in all their rights, but the obligations of his position do not permit him to forget that the Indians have rights & we'll IS white men, and he demands for them consideration and justice; he is fully in accord with the views we have expressed regarding the order to return the Indians to the reservation and hopes that shoulI the Indians be taken of their present lands, they will be sent to Indian Territory or some other place where they can re- main self sustaining. Inspector Wat kins was at the Agency at the same time and expressed similar views on this subject.
 We were present at a council held by Inspector Watkins. The Indians asked for nothing, but simply said { that with an abundance of wa,er they should always live happy On the re- serve, but without the water they did not knew what they should do. We lC were pleased tD learn that an Indian { Police force k to be established amongl the Pimas. We Auow from experience that five good Indian Policemen are more valuable in maintaining order on an Indian reservation than a con- pany of troops would be. The Pimas $ have always been selfsustaining, and by introducing this Police system among them they will soon become The Agent will be able 10 assert his authority on all oc- ,asions and to arrest all offenders, and he civil administration will be much