National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1880-01-20
THE UTE INVESTIGATION.
Some Facts from a Member of the
Indian Board.
Causes which Provoked the Outbreak
Treaty supulations D;sregarded by tho
Government 49, The Indians Left
without Their Promised Food
Money Due Withheld
A lame Defense.
General Risks Statement OF Causes.


The House Committee ON Indian Affairs re.
sumed yesterday their investigation Of tho
causes of the recent Ute outbreak. Gen. G. b
Fisk, of New York, was the first witness ex.
amined. lie charged tho Indian Bureau with
mismanagoment aud inattentiOu to the wants,
claims and rightiul dues of the Utcs, which
had led to dissatisfaction aud rostlcssness on
their part rendering them rife for an outbreak
General FISK reviewed at length tho Ute
question aud tho various causes which had
produced u docpscatcd dissatisfaction on the
part of the Utcs with the treatment they had
received from the Government, finally Culmi.
mating in what has been termed their "out-
break" Beginning with the "Bruno" treaty
of 1873, by which tho Utes felt
they were ovorreached and deceived, In
that they believed they were simply
ceding to the Government tho mineral
lands in tho San Juan region, whereas they
afterward found they had in reality coded
nearly all their valuable farming lands OH tho
San Miguel river. Another serious grievance
was tho failure Of tho Government to pay them
tho $4,000 annually as stipulated by treaty
agreement. When the Hatch Mcfarland
commissioners were sent to them in 1878 10
negotiate for the concentration of all the Utes
upon the White River, aud for the surrender
of all their lands below that point, they
vehcmently protested that they had been
wronged under the Bruno treaty, aud that
$50 600 was then due them by the Government
under its agreement to pay them $4,000 annu-
ally. At this time ISIS, said General Fisk,
the money was rightfully due them, il stood
to their credit on tho books Of the Interior
Department, and 1t was simply an mexcusable
neglect of duty on the part of the Indian
Bureau in not providing for its payment.
Another and most serious grievance was tho
Withholding Of supplies from the White River
Indians. In this connection General Fisk
f.il Al.
written in August, 1877:
No clothing, blanket tent or implement or
utcnsil Of any kind has been issued at this agency
for nearly two years; no -four except once-litecn
pounds TO flinily-sinco last May three monthsl
lii addition to the usual proportion of their sub
siscnce which the Indians provide for themselves
-siNty-six per cent-tbey have had this deficiency
to make up.
As the result of this neglect on the part of
the Indian Bureau, the White River Utes
were compelled to take their families and
walk 175 miles to Rawlins Station, on the
Union Pacific railroad, to obtain food to keep
them from starvation, while their stores were
permitted to remain at Rawlius until tho
flour rotted, and the other supplies consumed
their value in storage.
In 9s delicate n manner ms possible, General
Fisk suggested that it was unfortunate thcre
should have been any deviation from the
policy of receiving nominations of agents
from the religious bodies to which the agencies
had been assigned, as in the case Of tho ap-
pointee rs successor to Mr.. Dauiorth in 1878,
particularly as the sppointee had no special
fitness for such an agency, or tact in the man.
agornent of the Indians.
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Hayt fol.
lowed with general defense of his admins-
tration of the affairs of the Bureau, particu-
larly as affected the Utes. He read at length
| from the records and files OF the Bureau and
claimed that much Of the matter OF complaint
charged against the Indian Bureau should bo
attributed to his predecessor