Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-12-07
INDIAN STATISTICS.
As a Whole the Red Men Arc In.
 creasing in Number.
An Interesting Resume by General How srd-How the Indians Arc Counted Figures Based on the Latest
 Official Documents.


 Are the Indians, as some say, diminish. ing year by years And will the time speedily come when the whole land will he as free of them as Massachusetts is to-days Two years ago, says General o. o. Howard, in Wide Awake, the writer made this an- swer to similar inquiries: ''It is pleasant for their friends and the friends of humanity to discover, by actual count, that they are not diminishing" True, like certain Dan lsh and Celtic clans that once migrated from place to place on British soil, and then vanished from history, many Indian tribes have disappeared; oth- CTS, like Anglo-American households, have diminished till but few scat tered names remain to mark the strange ways Of strange people. Cochise, the Apache chief, shortly before his death said: "The whites began a war with me years ago l have slain ten for every In dian killed, but my people grow less and less; want peace" A few such warlike tribes, as above intimated, have been alto gether or nearly exterminated, but other large tribes have increased; some greatly and some but little.
 With few exceptions, the Indians of the United States have been gathered upon portions of the public lands. These DOT tions, called Indian reservations, dot the United States maps with their little squares - uniformly representing lands which the surrounding white men desire to possess Energetic pushers want to cross them with railroads, pasture sheep and cattle thereon, prospect for gold and silver within them, and ever regard 1t as a great hardship to be kept outside. Many white people who live neighbors to the Indians regard the land of those Indians with a very different feeling from that they would have if white men owned it. Each reservation has agent, a white man, ap- pCAlted by the President. This agent is virtually q king of small kingdom. He has white employees, such as the farmer, teacher, blacksmith and doctor; they con- stitute his counselcrs of state. Some times he adds to his governing force three Indian judges and ten or twelve Indian policemen.
 Thus we see that with so many white men among them it is easier than formerly for us to number the Indians. Not many years ago the counting was done by army officers and other Government officials they simply estimated the number of tribes and individuals; 1t was when the nations were more nomadic than at present; wher tribes were ever changing their hablta tions; when they had to move great dis tances to supply their wants; when tho buffalo, a thousand or more in a herd roamed over our vast prairies. Writers for papers or magazines of that time l guessed at the population or referred t. l the incomplete estimates. In our time ! correct census has been taken and the re l suits put down. From careful study O l these reports it is evident that now the In l dians, as whole, like the negroes of tn, South, are increasing.
 1 Thirty years ago there were severa causes which carried oH the Indians amons l these were contagious diseases which unin tentionally the white people brought anon: 1 them. Sad indeed were the ravages Of thu smallpox and tho measles. That dreadful l Whitman massacre, not far from Wall ] Walla, where a band of missionaries wer l SaVagely murdered, doubtless resulte, l from the simultaneous incoming of mission l and measles. The measles was then a ney l disease. The Indians imputed it to evi 1 spirits in Dr. Whitman's camp. The med ! cme-men dld not know what to prescribe 1 The sudden cold bath after the heat of l sweat house was Followed by death. Herb ! and extracts, hitherto eficacious i'll sick
 ness, gave no relief. So, like white peopl
 under yellow fever and cholera, being una
 ble to stay the hand of the destroyer, nulG
 tudes of the race n.;serabl.y perishcd. Who 1 under such narrowing distress. wonders a
 their superstitious folly and horrid resent l ment: But now Indians have more know
 edge. There are good reservation doctor ! or army surgeons near at hand. Cont aglo
 and epidemic are met at the threshold an l frustrated There Is no more sweeping | 1 men, women and children from these cause
 into untimely graves.
 1 Another desolating scourge has ceased l There are no longer Indian wars. Thos
 fierce tribal conflicts, merciless and lou 1 continuing, have at last passed away. One l the Chippewa was taught to hate the Dakt | ta and the Dakota to return the feeling Wit ! interest. The Nez Perce detested the Suah, l aud the Snake gave the hunters of tn l Neg Perce no rest. Thus, like France an l En gland in olden times, each nation had l: l hereditary enemy. Tribes combined to figt
 other tribes and often fought to extermin; ! tion.
 ! Making careful computation from tf l latest reports, which embraces all the State :, | and Territories. excepting Alaska, we couI 1 262, ,620. The accompanying table shows l how they are distributed:
 Arizona ..........21, 163I North Carolina. 3, ! California. II ,4osE Oregon 5,G
 Dakota. ........ 3i, 409 Texas. ....... ..... l Idaho. ........... 4,216I Utah ............. 2,6
 Indian Territory S,23t Washington Ter. .1o.e l Iowa............. SfIWisconsin. 7,S | Kansas ........... Si5IWyoming Ter. IS l Michigan. .......... 9.5if ltlorlda tSemlnoleS
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