The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-09-12
THE PIEGAN AGENCY.
The Young Los Going to School A We'll
Fixed Mission.

the Young Los Going TO school - A We'll
Fixed Mission.
The Piegan reservation is "a portion Of
land extending from the Sweet Grass
hills on the east to the mountains on the
west, and from Birch creek, a branch Of
the Marias, to the Canadian line. 1t
contains some fine grazing lands and is
we'll watered, being the source OF rivers
to the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic
oceans. The number of Indians IN the
reservation, according to the census just
completed, is 1853, all of whom draw
rations from the government.
The agency for the reservation is on
Badger creek, a branch of the Two Medi-
cine, in the southern portion of the res
ervation. 1t consists Of a stockado
about $50 yards square, inside of which
are the residence of the agent and those
of his assistants, a schoolhouse, commits
sary and the public buildings. These
buildings are all one-story log structures,
forming one long house around inside
the square and facing the center. The
agents house is in the center, and the
commissary, a large building containing
supplies for the Indians, directly in
front. The Indians do not live in the
agency. but are scattered over the reser-
walton engaged in grazing and farming.
The agent is George Steel, an old
Montanian, and well-known to the citi-
zens of Cascade county. He says the In
dams are progressing well and are indus
trious and take considerable pride in
everything they do. Considerable grain
was sown by them this spring and they
are now harvesting and also cutting
large amounts of hay. Some of then
have small bands of horses and cattle.
Besides these the government last spring
distributed 800 head of young cattle
among them and this fall will present
them 1900 head more. These are for
breeding purposes and the Indians are
very proud of their possessions and are
making great preparations for shelter for
them this winter. The Indians are like
children in their ideas and appropriations
and MAJ. Steel says with proper care
and encouragement they would soon
learn to be very Industrious. He says
they are not lazy but lack the ambition
and forethought with which the whites
are endowed, and that these qualities
must be brought out in them before ad-
vancement can take place. And n
would imagine this to be a slow growth
when one observes them pitching hay
with a heavy blanket about them and
bare-headed, working in the hot sun.
A novel feature of the school was
learned from Miss Ross, the teacher, an
Ohio lady who has been teaching there
for the last three or four years. She had
Just returned from a four days 'round
up horse back, collecting the scholars
for school on the following Monday. She
had been over nearly all the reservation
and had considerable difficulty in
~persuading the old folks to start their
children to school.
A fine mission school five miles north
on the Two Medicine and built by funds
given by Miss Drexel of Philadelphia, has
lately been completed.
Its buildings number two. Each is
100 feet long, the larger being forty feet
wide and two stories high, the smaller
, thirty feet wide and only one story in
height. The first floor of the larger
building consists of offices, school rooms
and recreation rooms. The second
! story is used for dormitory and sleeping
apartments in general. The other build
ing is used for a kitchen and dining room.
II was built at a cost of $4,000 and is a
complete boarding school for the children
and beautifully situated on a bend in
the creek and surrounded by a natural
grove. The school will accommodate
about 100 pupils and is in charge of the
Ursaline sisters. The expenses of the
school are met by the money appro-
priated by for the education or
the Indian youth.