Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-05-08
THE COAL FIELDS.
Conference of the san Carlos Indian Agent and United States Surveyor General.

!
 General Land Office for presentation
 to the Secretary of the Interior:
 US SURVEYOR GENERALS OFFICE, |
 TUcsoN, ARIZONA, May 6, 1881.
 Hon. Samuel T. KIrkwood, Secre-
 tary of the Interior, Washington, D.
 C. Sir: On the 27th ultimo, Col. J.
 c. Tiffany, Indian Agent aI San Car
 los, telegraphed me that he would like 10 meet me al the agency or some
 intermediate point By previous ad- vices 1 knew hls object was to have a consultation about the boundaries of the reservation and the recent discoY- cries of coal within the supposed
 boundaries thereof, and, if possible, to agree and act, so far as l. is proper 1 for me to act with him, in harmony
 with reference to the establishing and
 marking of such boundaries so as to
 satisfy without injury to the Indians,
 and al the same time restore the coal
 land 10 the public domain. Although
 have no duty 10 perform with regsrd l 10 Indian reservations, except in
 cases OI surveys under special direc-
 tion of the proper Department officer,
 l was willing to gratiiy the Agent, and to also use whatever influence 1 possessed to properly aid him and
 likewise serve the public; therefore, l
 met him at Rockers ranch near Fort Grant on the 1st instant, and freely
 and frankly discussed the who.e sit
 uation, the conclusion Of which was
 that he would forward letter to the 1nH raA al ola Honorable Secretary in which would substantially state and endorse his
 views as finally expressed py him. Preliminary to stating his views, l
 will say that for years l have in all proper ways urged the impor-
 tance of marking on the ground, by posts and monuments, the exte-
 ror lines of the San Carlos and White
 Mountain reservation, so that the
 most unleltered person, Indian as well
 as settler and citizen, could not plead ignorance of theIr whereabouts, and also indicated the danger of delay. There being abou; 300 miles of such
 lines without the slightest artificial mark upon them, and but very few natural ones whose situation and names are unders toOd alike by even
 intelligent officials, it is not to be wondered that reservation Indians get outside and settlers and prOspectors inside of them; and therefore excuses on either hand are easily made, and, ln many cases, entitled tO favorable consideration. With nearly 5000 h. dlans on the reservation, and rap idly increasing and energetic pOpula- ton on every side of il, the causes likely tO pIecipitate trouble are con staHtly accommodating.
 In my judgment, the condition has been reached which demands prompt and clearly denned action to avoid | trouble, whose extent, If any at all, cannot be foreseen. Agent Tiffany l represents the Indians as being fully | aware of the extent of previous re- duCtiunS of their reservation, and of l lhe value of them to the public, and | that they arc especially alive to the | value of tue recent discovery of coal | On the southern border. The demand | for additional supplies of fuel for | general use is almost irresistible. | Looking to the present and future, a | supply of coal Is of the highest i'm | pOriance. If the San Carlos coal can | be made available to the public with out provoking Indian hOstilitles, it | ought To be done, and Agent Tiffany | assures me itSan be done by reform | ing Ibe lines SD as to exclude the coal | lands on the south and add certain de- | siTablc agricultural and hunting lands 1 on the north and northwest, and upon | which ten bands of Indians are now | settled, and that he will recommend | such exclusion and additions as the | best settlement of all conflicting iu- 1 teresls, without material injury to | any.
 To better illustrate the Agents pro- position, l have caused a tracing to | be made of the boundaries, placing | them where they are supposed to be | under existing Executive orders, and | distinguishing them by black lines, | and the Agents proposed boundaries | are indicated by red lines. The old | lines, be they accurately defined or | not on the tracing, are very indefinite | and crooked, aud, if marked on the | ground, would make 1t difficult to | close public surveys upon, and when | done would make almost innumer- | able tracts of different areas and | shapes; whereas the Agents proposed | lines would be all straight and make | all corners right angles.
 Agent Tiffany says the Indians are SO desirous to have the additions | made on the north and northwest, that if made they will consent 10 an eX- clusion of coal lands on the south, and | the other proposed changes would not | likely interfere with an existing right | and would neither include nor exclude | land of much recognized value. Such Il changes would leave the Indians with | more water, more agricultural land | and more hunting ground, and ex- clude all lands now occupied by | miners for coal and the precious | metals and if Col TIffany's views be correct. and l believe they are, the | sooner they are practically adopted | the better for aH concerned. But they | should not be adopted on paper alone. A suitable Executive order should be immediately followed by marking the lines upon the ground st every mile around the entireGreserve. Less than this would leave the reserve liable 10 further trvspass, with excuses for the trespasserS.
 Agent Tiffany sad he would i'm mediately address the Indian Office on thls business, and make sugges- tions as to the best methods of pre- scnting the facts effectively before the Department. While I am not in a position 10 pass upon the wisdom of all of them, l think his position en- titles his opinions to very favorable consideration.
 Enclosed is a copy of the only other letter I have written on thIs subject. therein suggest that you constitute the Commissioners of the Indian Of- fee and General Land Office a com mission Co personally visit the reser-