El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-05
Ciyilizing the Redskins

dustrial School at Carlisle, Pa. marked
an epoch in the history Of our treat
ment of the red men. To.Msjor Pratt,
the superintendent of this school, be-
longs the credit of conceiving and so
far as posi- Die carrying out the idea
that the most effective way of"getting
civiliza ton into the Indian Is to get
the Indian into civilization"
He believes the system which Coz
verts the great masses OF Europeans
from the lowest classes of society W no
annually flock to our chores into res
pectabie American citizens will If ap-
piled to the aborigines produce the
why the came opportunities and priv
ileges should not be given to the 25O.-
900 Indians as are afforded more than
twice that number of immigrants that
yearly have opened wide to them our
lands and the great boon OF citizen
ship.
Richard Henry Pratt was born in
Allegany county, New York. When
quite boy his parents removed to In
diana. His early opportunities for ed
ucation were no more than those enjoy
ed by every boy. At the breaking out
of the civil war he enlisted in April,
1861. He was mustered out In May,
1865, as captain in the Eleventh In
diana cavalry. In 1867 he accepted 8
eommission In the Tenth United States
cavalry and until 1875 was stationed on
the frontier in Texas and the Indian
Territory. It WAS here that his con-
victions In regard to our treatment Of
the Indiana had their origin.
During the Indian war of 1S74-75 he
had charge of hundreds of Indian prl-
soners ut Fort Sill. Seventy-four of
the worst of those we're sent in care OF
Major Pratt to the Spanish fort at st.
August e, Florida. Though he was
their taller and took them to Florida
In chains, his humane treatment of
them won their affection, and the sur
vivOrs even now regard him as their
best friend. In accordance with his
conclusions, he esta blished schools
among them, and, by letting them go
out as laborers, brought them into
contact with civilized life. The In
diane remained in Florida three years,
wrought in them. They even begged
to have their wives and children sent
to them and to be allowed to remain in
the east. But those in charge of the
agencies refused to send their families
east and demanded that the released
prisoners be sent back.
In the spring of 1878, when the pris-
oners we're released, twenty-five of the
young men asked to be allowed to re-
main east to 60 to school. Seventeen
of them were placed in the school at
Hampton, which up to that time had
been devoted entirely to the education
of the colored race, the others in
various schools in the east. In the fall
of 1878 Msjor Pratt was sent to Dakota
to collect students for the Hampton
school, and he brought back forty
nine from the various agencies. He
was then detailed to stay at the school
till the Indians were used to their new
mode of life.
Various considerations led Major
Pratt to suggest the establishment of q
school especially devoted to the educa-
tion af Indians, and he named the old
barracks at Carlisle as . suitable place
for such q school.
In telling of the fight to estat lish his
industrial school, Major Pratt says:
'After struggle of months, in which 1
was supported by the secretary OF war
and the secretary of the interior, 1t
was finally concluded to turn over the
Carlisle barracks for the purpose of an
Indian school and an order was issued. |
then went to my chief, General Sher-
man, who had opposed it. He opposed
it because he o1dn't want to see army |
officers 60 on old woman's duty as he |
called IL, and he was kind enough to |
say that if The officers of the army per-
sisted in getting on these special de- |
tails be would make it his business to |
see that the corporals and sergeants, |
who had to perform their military du- |
ties in their absence, should get the |
was under the direction of the secre- !
tary OF war, 1 kept o."
And so, on Septem Der 6, 1879. an or
der was issued turning over the |
Carlisle barracks to the department of |
the interior for an Indian industrial |
school. Major Patt was Immediately |
sent to Dakota and the Indian territory |
to procure pupils for the school. By |
the end of October 1876 had been collect |
ed; Ham pton gave up eleven of the
former Florida prisoners, aud on |
] the school opened with 147 |
pupils. Since that time nearly 5000 |
different pupils, representing over
seve q five tribes, have attended the |
the largest number in at
tendance during any one year being |
1850 in 1898.
has always been to make the Indian
3 thrifty, Industrious, capable Amer
lean citizen.
Purely theoretical methods find no
place at Carlisle, all efforts are direct
ed to giving the boys and g iris prac-
bical productive training. To this end
each day is divided into two portions,
half day is spent in school and half a
day in some one of the various shops.
In the school room the task consists
Of instruction in English. which is by |
no means small part of the work, rs
many of them can speak nothing but
their tribal language when they ar
rive: writing arithmetic, geography
In short. work such as is given In our
public schools up to the grammar
grade. In school work the pupils show
3 remarkable aptness to learn con-
sidering their previous opportunities.
Teachers experienced in teaching be-
f1.ro orator.i fha MIN |