The evening times., 1900-03-10
indian AGENTS REPORT
Information Concerning the Various
Tribes Of the Country.
Life On the Reservations When Crops
Fail-The Total Population 267,-
Are Able to Read-A Band That
Wandered From Central America.

Wandered From Central America.
The annual reports of the various Indian
agents throughout the country are being
prepared by the Indian Office, and will be
submitted to the Secretary of the Interior
in conjunction with the report of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs in about
two weeks The entire Indian population
OF the country according to the report is
267S05. The number wearing citizens
dress is 95,679, together with 31,923. who
wear a mixture of Indian and civilized
clothing
The number that can read amounts to
1857. and who can speak sufficient Eng
lish for ordinary conversation, 53,9l4.
There were ,153 dwelling houses built for
Indians this year, in addition to the 1926
dwellings already occupied by them. There
are 266 male and 141 female missionaries
now among the Indians. There are 81
655 Indians church members, and 34S
church buildings upon the various reser-
yations The amount of money CON
tributed during the last year by religious
and other societies. was for education,
S2G6, ,S3S. for general church work Sl19. 407.
This estimate does not include the SIG,
Ol6 from New York for the support Of the
school established by that State. There
were S5g marriages during the year. and
63 divorces. The number of births
was 4237. and the deaths, 5,253.
There were % Indians killed by Indians
and by whites l. There were 13 suicides,
and whites killed by Indians
The number OF Indian criminals pun
ished was l.i69. or these 745 received
their sentence in courts presided over by
Indian officers and PA by civil courts. and
by other methods iS0. The number of
whisky sellers punished was 564.
Not a Good Year.
The conditions reported as existing In
many of the Indian districts during the
last year are unfaycrable In the Colo
RADIO River reservation, Inhabited chiefly
by the Mohave tribe the river failed TO
make its annual overflow, and the expert
mental irrigation pumps erected in 1892
broke down in August running all un-
mdtured crops aud leaving the Indians
without opportunity for self-suppOrJ on
the reservation. As the agent is only
furnished rations to supply one-third of
the population, many OF the Indians were
compelled TO leave the reservation to es-
cape starvation. 1t was not until Septem-
ber that bid was secured at nearly double
former prices, and l1S,000 pounds Of catte
were brought into a region in which the
drought had left no paStu!age. However
owing 10 excellent herding methods. only
ten head of cattle were lost
Improved methods OF irrigation are at
present under construction in this region
There is established in this Colorado River
region large body of non-r reservation Mo
haves estimated 10 number 1900. settled
near Needles and Fort Mohave. which ere
said in the agents report. to be a re-
proach TO the Government and a source
of great yeNatou TO the authorities Their
condition is said TO combine a perfectly
savage state united with the vices which
they have acquired from contact with bor-
der settlements.
The report of the Fort Apach agent as
serts that at the beginning of the year
many Indians OF that locality were in
starving condition. This state OF affairs
was brought about. says the report
through the floods destroying the crops.
and q failure on the part of the Indians
to secure as large a wood contract as usual
from the Fort Apache military post
Extra Food Supplied
On application the Indian Office
authorized an extra monthly issue of -four
and beef. and loaned them II 900 pounds of
barley, and l,o00 pounds of corn for seed.
and gave them 5000 pounds of seed corn
which proved a great relief. New school
buildings are said to be badly needed in
this reservation 10 accommodate the
children. Much damage is said to have
been done on the Fort Apache Reserva-
tiOn by forest fires, their prevalence be-
ing largely due to the fact that the
Indians set fire TO the forests themselves,
believing that the smoke induces rain.
Great difficulty is experienced accord
ing TO the report of the school superin-
tendent in persuading Indians to become
educated The character and conditions
of the different tribes show great vari-
ations. One nation, such as the Hulapais.
is found TO be eXtravagant and improvi-
dent. desiring rather a condition of idle
ness to one of profitable labor while the
MoQuis are extremely industrious and
provident. After the smallpox scourge
which recently devastated the nation had
abated. and the work of cleaning and
their houses had begun, it was
found that the Moquis had an abundance
of corn and dried peaches stored away in
their habitations in most cases sufficient
to last for Two years.
The report will state that the popula-
ton Of the various nations is steadily de- |
creasing. There is found in the Govern !
ment schools the greatest difficulty in |
teaching the Indian. The intelligence of |
many of the tribes is said to be of |
high order. but the nature of the Indian |
loes not appear to take kindly to customs |
different from his own Much of the |
hardship so prevalent in the Indian coun-
try is attributable to the aridity of the |
regions in which most of the reservations |
are situated. Many of the tribes are al !
lowed to practice their own religious OBJ |
servances. such as the Kickapoos, who. at |
the present time OF the year observe their |
feast to the Great Spirit at which a dog |
is killed and eaten each day during the |
holy season.
a Discovery Reported.
An interesting matter is reported from |
he country inhabited by the Caddo, or |
lardarko, and the Algonquin tribes, ex- |
ending from the Rio Grande along the |
lorth coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the /
mouth of the Mississippi. A marked con-
rast exists between these two tribes, the
lardarkoS being much darker of skin than
he Algonquins and differing from them
Ssentially in habit and tradition. Among
Ither things their language is entirely un-
ike, but, from long intercourse the one
has become thoroughly acquainted with
he history and traditions of the other.
Inc Nardarkos claim that they come |
rom the south, and that their homo az |