The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1888-02-29
PEACEFUL INDIANS.
The Red Man Taking a New Departure
items of Interest from the B1aclfoot
Reservation--The Treaty Should
be Ratified.

Last Friday scribe deserted the figure
Of stranger in one of our leading hotels
and at once sought an interview. Ac-
quaintance followed, and the gentleman
whose face represents kindness and inteli-
genoe Of high order, proved to be none
other than Major Baldwin, agent at the
Blackfoot reservation.
"How many Indians have you got up
theref' inquired the eager pencil pusher
"Oh, from 2,15O to 2,2O0."
"Are they dying off fast9'
mo The births since I have been at
the agency exceed the death rate very
considerably"
Everybody says the Indians are behav-
ing themselves very well?"
"They are There hasn't been raid
from the reservation in sixteen months.
A party said to me the other day at Cho-
teau, that it was 50 long since he had seen
an Indian he had almost forgotten what
they looked like"
"How do you manage to hold them
DOWN."
"Well, think in the first place they re-
alize as never before, that they must adopt
the habits of the whites; that warfare and
horse stealing are things of the past, and
that new departure is necessary. This
is shown by the increased interest they
manifest in agriculture. About eighteen
miles of fencing was put up last season
preparatory to farming this year. Three
hundred acres we're cultivated last year,
the crop consisting Of oats, wheat and po-
tatoes. One old fellow has eighty acres
under fence and regularly seeds down
half of it, and garners his harvests But
the singular thing is that the chiefs and
leading men take an active interest in
work, and instead Of playing the part of
indolent idlers, seem to have an ambition
to deserve their positions by actual hard
work. This new turn in the Indian mind |
which / have encouraged in every posi-
BILE way, is great help to me; then I have
very efficient Indian police force that
has done good work in heading off war
parties Of young bucks who sometimes
decide to win little glory for them
selves"
"How many police have your"
Twenty. They are uniformed like
Uncle Sans soldiers, with hair cut short,
and take an immense pride in their official
position. Speaking of uniforms brings to
mind the fact that Indians now evidence
-,xJ- A. - : |
There was time, as you we'll know, when
they scorned anything but blanket; but
that time seems to have past. They want
pantaloons noW."
"Do they have much trouble among
themselves"
"Very little; occasionally they have
row, but not serious one. There hasn't
been crime committed on the reserva-
tion during the last eighteen months
Il see by the papers that the senate
committee on Indian affairs has reported
favorably the treaty made by the North
west Indian commission with the tribes I
under your control. What do you think
of it?"
II believe it to be just to both the gov
and the Indians. By it's provi-
sions the tribes are allotted the land that
they have occupied for many years as their
homes, and the balance was only useful
for hunting grounds. After the buffalo
were killed off it became practically val
ueless to them, and they are only too glad !.
to exchange it for cold cash."
How much money do they receiver"
"If the treaty IS ratified, as it should be,
they will get $4,3OO,O0o One-tenth of
that sum invested in cattle would in four
Or five years make them self-supporting !
and free the government from any charge :
on their account. The land left to them :
IS Of their own selecting. They will be :
only too glad to learn that the matter is
inally settled"
The scribe was about to PROFOUND other y
but seeing an expression :
of impatience on the face of his victim
leemed it prudent to roll up his scroll and : :
skip out, which he did without delay :,
Postmaster's Salaries. il