Arizona citizen., 1879-11-29
Annual Report Of Gen. 0. 3. Wilcox.
 EXTRACTS

The condition of the military ser vice has improved in nearly all re
 spects during the year. The bids fol
 supplies at the different posts are gen } orally lower than they were last year T The influx of miners and stock rais CTS, with the temptations presented for Iplunder, has increased the number of
 thieves, white and red, but considerinp the very wide extent of Arizona Terri.
 ,Ory, and its bordering on Mexico. a
 fair progress has been made in the
 peaceful settlement of the country un-
 der military protection.
 The number Of authenticated deaths
 at the hands of the Indians for the
 year does not exceed five, only one ol
 which can be accredited to Arizona
 Indians.
 The Indians on the reservations are under the exclusive control of the In
 dian Department, those of the reser
 vations come under military, and in
 organized counties under the local civ. il governments. Now as the railroads
 advance through this department. tbe
 whites and Indians will be brOught
 more and more in contact, and the ma chinerv of civil law does not seem ap. plicable to the organization of mixed society which ensues, something there fore needs 10 be done. As the French
 railroads push down into Algera the
 wandering natives of the desert settle around the wells and plant date trees.
 Here they come 10 squat and drink whisky. If the moral and intellectual forces at work in the Indian Depart
 ment could be brought to bear on the question of preparing for these trans nations going on all over the western territory, 1t might save wars and waste fUl and inhuman sacrifices, and con vert our heather children into ciyiIiZ ed societies.
 In no part of the United States is there such field for it as there is in Arizona among the Pimas, Maricopas and PapGgOeS. These are Pueblo or habitatiOn Indians, grain raisers. andl BCNNNAr NlS- Dul II SOlilG-I thing is not done to guide their indus tries, to give their children schooling, to teach them the first principles of town and county government, it will be found that contact with American institutions will soon make them sev. en fold nearer the children of hell. ! then If they had never seen a white man and a brother"
 The PapagOes, though not so imme | diately on and along railroad lines, are found drifting thitherward in largel numbers. These Indians under Mexi- | can auspices have made greater strides toward christianity than any other tribe know of. They were essential ly, or at least, those in the vicinity of Tucson, Catholic Indians. But for the want of a Catholic agent, funds and teachers, their schools at San Xavier, have been closed and they are relaps- ing fast into ignorance.
 1 would request that this matter be referred to the Department of the In terror not only as a question of civil izing the Papagoes, but as an auXilla- " of preserving peace with and main taining our influence over this tribe.
 The agency at San Carlos IS now temporarily Tn charge of Capt Chatfee, Sixth CaYalry-not under military con tTol-but under the supervision OI Commissioner of Indian affairs, and is conducted by the rules of that office. As a temporary necessity this change seems to be needed, but 1 hope that the eXigcncy will not continue long. 1 doubt, however, whether so import ant a post with such large patronage can be filled satisfactorily on so small salary as that paid the civil agent scarcely equal to a fifth rate clerkshipI in any large establishment. His sal ary should be sufficient to place him above temptation and to secure high order of ability.
 The Salt River land question has been settled by the reservation order recommended by Captain Chaffe, and myself.
 The survey of this new reservation tor the Pimas and MaricOpas should le made at once, as Indians are already for the limits within which to lay out their ditches for the next years cultivation. It would be well to get these red men away from the rail roads speedily, to their new lands at the confluence of the Verde and Salt rivers.
 The peace of this Department is due To perpetual scouting operations. These are bloodless and silent victories, which assure the prospector, miner and ranchman unseen protection and prevent the Arizona renegade, or the 1epredatory hostile from Mexico from the industrious citizen. But with such 8 small force and such i'm mense stretch of territory, crossed by i and hiding places in every direction, some skulking thieves like coyotes will break in. But l question: the death rate or even thel stealing equals that of any other civ lized country.