, 1890-12-04
DIR. Daniel Dorchester. General
Superintendent, Is in
tho City,
He Talks of the Condition Of the
Red Men-The Apaches
Turbulent Set
Six Thousand Indian Children Go
to School and Excel the White
Boys and Girls.


is on his way to the Colvillo agency
to examine the schools there, and
also to see whether more schools are
needed and what locations are best
suited for them.
a REVIEW reporter called upon
the distinguished gentleman yester-
day afternoon, and found him rest
ing from the fatigue and hardships
from u journey across the Cascade
mountains in a stage coach. Tho
doctor readily consented to talk,
however, of his visit to this section
and of the work he has accomplished
in betteripg tine condition of the red
man.
81 left Washington In the early
part of last February" said the
doctor, 'and have been In the field
visiting Indian schools ever since.
On my present tour ! have been all
through New Mexico, Arizo ma,
Western Nevada, California, Ore
gon end Washington. During the
eighteen months that ] have held
the Office / have travelled over 81
900 miles. have visited over fifty
Indian reservations and nearly 100
Indian schools.
81 find that the Indians are maxi
ing very great progress as o whole.
Occasionally 1 find section that Is
holding back. 1t Is very evident,
though, that the past ten years have
witnessed great Improvement
among the Indians of the
United States. The only
savage Indians | have seen are the
Apaches, among whom | was last
March. / found them in IA turbu-
lent condition and narrowly escaped
In ambush by the roadside with n
carbine waiting for me. Colonel
johnson, commander of the mil
itary, anticipating danger, sent five
cavalrymen to Inspect the road be-
fore | should come along in the mail
wagon. They seized the Indian ana
asked him what he was there for.
He said: Going to shoot man take
away Indian children He thought
that L was going To take the chill
dren away with me. 1t is hard
work to make some of them under
stand what l am doug.
al find the Navajo and Sioux
Indians inclined to he turbulent at
times, but they are not bloodthirsty
like the Apaches. The Navajos,
when asked If they would not take
part In the recent uprising, said no.
They had had enough war with the
United States. They had lost every
time and they would now settle
down to industry.
"As an evidence of the progress
made by the Indians, the Navajo
tribe have 100000 sheep, 100000
goats and 100000 ponies and mules.
Their wool output last year was
2OO0,00O pounds, which belongs to
the suuaws. The famous Navajo
blankets are made from this wool.
"When | was down there in May
there were 200 houses in course of
erection by the Navajos. The Pima
Indians, down on the Gila river,
sold 100000 pounds of wheat, be-
sides what they used themselves
and what they paid the 'Papagoes'
for assisting them. Both the Ma
vajos and Pimas are large tribes of
from 1000 to 5000 each.
"The Yakima Indians have raised
$4,000 bushels of wheat, besides
other grain, and put up 1000 tons of
hay.
of the richest land in the world,
have raised 100000 bushels of wheat.
The Umatilla tribe only number
1000. These are specimens of In
dian industry. | saw one Indian
that raised 5000 bushels, and was
told that some had raised as high as
10, 900 and 10000 bushels. The full
blooded Umatillas just lie back and
lease their lands to the white man
for certain per cent. of the yield.
They are the gentlemen of the reser-
walton.
"I find that the Indians in this
Northwestern country-that is,
Northern Idaho, Oregon and WASH
ington are fifty years in advance
of the Apachcs, Pueblos, Yuma and
Mojave tribes in several respects,
such as dress, cut of the hair, in
their houses, in their general ideas
of things, in industry, ambition,
etc. One reason for this is
that there have been more
Christian missions established
among the Northwestern Indians.
Another is that they have never
been pauperized by having rations
dealt out to them by the govern
ment, but have had to rely on their
own endeavors. Besides, the civ
ilization that the Indians in the
South have come in contact with
has been the civilization of McXi-
cans to IA great extent, and that is
not the most advanced by any
means.
ain regard to the Indian schools,
| will state that there are over 49,
900 pupils in the schools on the diff
ferent reservations. There has been
an increase of over 900 during the
past year. The pupils, are making
very fast progress i'll their studies
and accomplishments. 1t is great
difficulty to get the children to
ing. / suppose II can be accounted
for by shyness that comes from
speaking II new language. They
are afraid they won't pronounce the
words just right.
"In one Indian school / found
the following example on the black
board: One-half of 81, minus 81, di-
vided by 25, plus ! of 81. Seven
out of nine pupils obtained the right
answer. / was in one school that
had been in existence only two and
one-half years, where six of the pu-
pills had finished fundamental rules
and fractions. They understood it
we'll. The pupils excel particularly