Arizona silver belt., 1884-04-05


Carlos, and have from time to time,
I published occurrences there and more
than is stated in the snbioined letter.
Wilcox explicitly charges murder, and
st now remains to be SEEN what win
be done IN the premises The gov
ernment, certainly, can do no less
than remove Crawford. and IN his
stead appoint some one Of less self
Importance;
Hon. III. Price, Commissioner Of
Indian Affairs, Washington, p. c.:
Sir-~I have the honor to inform You
that, in my opinion. any further effort
/ to MANAGE the Indians Of this reserva-
ton under the agreement entered into
between the Secretary Of VI ar aud the
Secretary Of the Interior on the 9TH Of
July, 1888, VIII be only productive q
improbable results TO the Indians. /
submit as briefly as possible some Of
the reasons or which base this op!n-
ion.
The policy Of the interior Depart
ment, Is / understand II, is not IN har
mony with the practice Of the military
oiiicer to whom police control Of the
reservation has been entrusted. BY
his acts and, as / am informed by his
utterancos, it Is evident that his con-
structions Of the meaning Of the
agreement, would deprive the agent
of all voice in the management Of
Indian affairs on the reservation, and
take from him every duty except To-
receive and issue supplies, and that
subject to the approval OF oisapprova
I o. a captain commanding.
To hIs arbitrary assumption Of au-
thority. his disregard Of my rights IN
matters that pertain exclusively 70 the
ordinary duty Of Indian agent,
I have submitted TO the limit OF endur-
ance. As a last resort submit the
I grounds Of my complaint to the de-
I partment / have the honor to serve.
for such action as may appear best III
the premises.
Soon after the return Of Captain
Crawford with the Chirieahua rene
T gades from Mexico. he called che peac6>
ful Indians Of the agency to council,
without consulting my wish in the
matter. and bT the use Of influences.
( amounting almost TO coercion, secured
a partial approval Of the presence at
( the agency Of the hostile bands. though
( the same Indians had, but a short tme
before, voluntarily protested against
the coming Of the outlaws. and re-
ques5ed me 70 make known their OF
f lections to the Great Father at wash
ington Since that tine until now he
/ has been busy, almost constantly, IN
structing them IN matters PERTAINING
( to their industrial pursuits. the loca-
+ ton Of their farms, the construction
( Of dams and bitches. until many of
them believe that my duty consists
+ solely IN making the weekly issue Of
beef and iionr, and tha. ] may be d.
reeted u that 5y the Great Captain.
This interference was carried 20 the
extent In November last CT ordering
! Chim-hua-hua-sal q Yuma chief. to
seek a home beyond the confines Of
f the reservation, and proceed t. il at
+ once and prepare 20 raise q crop.
Other Indians were instructed as to
the location Of their farms, military
I officers were detailed to superntend
repair Of dams, and the chief Of mile
4 tary scouts was eensured ~ Captain
( Crawford for having deferred to the
agency farmer. and permitting bim
10 direct the blasting Of ledge that
Z 3 ditch might be carried through It.
5he chief Of scouts having been in
structed to conduct the work
To such an extent has his influence
been extended, as TO induce a large
number of Indians 70 decline to en-
gage IN farming operations, giving as
/ a reason that Captain Crawford had
promised them they might 90 70
Apache as soon as the grass vas grown
Only the pressure of hunger has
brought them to sense 81 their de.
pendenca on the agent, and though
they are at work, they can only be de-
pended on SO long as IT Is impossible
for them 10 subsist on the fruits OF the
chase at Apache
You can readily see how uncertain
must be all plans Of the agent for con-
dueting any industrial pursuits. de-
pendent on permanent location Of the
Indians, SO long as he is powerless to
hold them IN place, except az a mill
tary officer not in accord with him may
dictate
The Chlricahua prisoners { p roam
at will ever the reservation, some Of
them having their camps three miles
from the camps Of the soidiers and
scouts; all the bucks Of the bands are
well armed and mounted, and a party
Of them are now herding 8 large band
Of stolen horses and mules twenty
miles from the agency. Persons
claiming that they have animals
among them that are plainly marked
and can be easily identified. have been
denied the privilege Of visiting the
camp for the purpose Of pointing out
their property. and also assured that
if found the stock could not be re-
covered.
Well known murderers Of white
men are among the outlaws one Of
whom IS now under indictment. but
cannot be brought to justice, because
Of the refusal Of Captain Crawford to
permit his arrest
in striking contrast with the pro-
lection afforded these murderers Of
siome Of the best citizens of Arizona
and New Mexico. including Judge Nc
Comas. wife and boy, I viii cite the
ease Of Aez-ki-za, a San Carlos Indian. /
well known about The agency as
Charley. who had been q faithful
agency scout up TO the time Of the 1