The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-08
HOW MANY INDIANsq
Howes Tells How Many, and
0e~ where They Are Located.

" here 1leY are LOCAboQ.
n O. HourGrd in Wide Quake.
=. the Indians, as some say, diminish
resr by yearl And will the time
div come when the whole land will be
-. of them as Massachusetts, is to-day!
20 wears ago the writer made this an
70 similar inquiries: 1T is pleasant
raaasir friends aud the friends of humanity
N,;s.cnver by actual counts that they are
Z, diminishing"
y -t III like certain Danish and Celtic clans
once migrated from place to place on
Ss.;sh SoiI and then va .ished from hi tory,
Hl Tndian tribes have disappeared; 9th
DsDii ils Auglo-American households, have
sSHirished ill but few sea tered names
lain TO mark the strange ways Of
range people.
COchise the Apache CHIEF, shortly before
* death said: "The whites began war
IN me Years ago. l have slain ten for
VIZ Indian killed, but my people grow
~ and less. want peace" A few such
Es,i;Ea tribes. as above intimated, have
20 altogether or nearly exterminated,
E IS. eber large tribes have increased I;
. ~. greatly and some but little.
VIII few exceptions the Indians of the
r ;tad states have been gathered upon por-
,,ons of the public lands. These portions,
oa1Ied Indian reservations, dot the U nlted
S+ates maps with their little squares-uni-
formly representing lands wnlch the sur
ronnding white men desire TO possess.
t uS"aroatic pushers want to cross them with
.niIr6ads pasture sheep and cattle thereon,
.,.nsnect for gold and silver within them,
Pa over regard il as great hardship to be
i,ant outside Many white people who live
-,oiGbhors to the Indians regard the land of
4hnse Indians with a very different feeling
from that they would have if white men
Esch reservation has an agent, white
man appointed by the President. This
a AGENT IS virtually king of small king
dom. He has white employees, such as the
farmer, teacher, blacksmith, and doctor
thav constitute his counselors of state.
Sometimes he adds to his governing force
three Indian Judges, and ten or twelve In
dian policemen.
Tins we see that with so many white
man among them it is easier than formerly
for us to number the Indians. Not many
Years ago he counting was done by army
officers and other government officials
tbey simply estimated the number of tribes
and individuals: 1t was when the nations
were more nomadic than at present; when
tribes were ever changing their habitita-
tions; when they had to move great dis
buffalo, thousand and more in herd,
roamed over our vast prairies.
Writers for papers Or magazines of thai
time guessed at the population or referred
to the incomplete estimates. In our time a
correct census has been taken and the re-
suits put down. From a careful study of
III se reports it is evident that now the In
dams, as whole, like the negroes of the
south, are increasing.
Thirty years ago there were several causes
which carried off the Indians. Among
these were contagious diseases which, un-
intentionally, the white people brought
Of the smallpox and the measles.
That dreadful Whitman massacre, not
far from Walla Walla, where a band Of
missionaries were savagely murdered,
doubtless resulted from the simultane Ous
incoming of missions and measles. The
measles was then new disease. The In
dams imputed it to evil spirits in DIR. Whit
mans camp. The medicine men did not
know what to prescribe. The sudden cold
bath after the heat of sweat house was
followed by death. Herbs and extracts
hitherto efficacious in sickness, gave no re-
lief So, like white people under yellow
fever and cholera, beng unable to stay the
hand of the destroyer, multitudes Of the
race miserably persisted. Who under such
narrowing distress wonders at their super
stitious folly and norrid resentments
But now Indians have more knowledge
There are good reservation doctors or army
surgeons near at hand. Contagion and cpl
demic are met at the threshold and
frustrated. There is no more sweeping of
men, women, and children from these
causes into untimely graves.
Another desolating scourge has ceased
There are no longer Indian wars. Those
fierce tribal conflicts, merciless, and long
continuing, have at last passed away. Once
the Chippewa was taught to hate the
Dakota, and the Dakota to return the feel
ing with interest. The Nez Perez detesteC
the Snake, and the Snake gave the b nters
of the Nez Perez no rest. Thus. like France
and England in olden times, each nation hac
its hereditary enemy. Tribes combined t.
fight other tribes and often fought to exter
mination.
People who hold to the vanishing
theory declare that Indians do not thrive
on the white mans food, and great losse.
are claimed from this fruitful source The
contrary is nearer the truth. AS soon a
they catch the white mans regularity OF
supply, Of preparation and eating, taking
as wedo two or three meals every day
they are healthier than when they wen
days without food, and then like gour-
mauds gorged themselves; healthier thar
when they seized upon animals that hac
died, and to satisfy the cravings of falls,
appetites consumed the poisonous flesh.
Making careful computation from thu
latest reports, which embrace all the state
and territories, excepting Alaska, we coun
SSo262O The accompanying table shows u
how they are distributed:
Arizona. 81, 1853 North Carolina. $40
Gailtornia. 800. 11.409 Oregon. -. 49,. sos