The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-09-05
Government Work Among the Indians.

VIII Bishop and wife returned Friday
from Newport, where Mr.. Bishop atten-
ded the sessions of the annual Indian
institute Of the Pacific coast division OF
the government Indian agents, teachers
and employees The Newport institute
lasted one week, and there were about
l25 people in attendance. Among those
lecturing at the institute were Miss
Estella Reel, national superintendent of
the Indian schools, with headquarters
at Washington, D. c.; Professor Chal-
croft, general supervisor OF the Indian
schools; j. H. Alderman, state SUPER
intendent of public instruction for Ore
gon, and Professor Horner, of the Oregon
Agricultural college at Corvallis. The
next place OF meeting of the institute
is to be decided by the executive COM
mittee.
Mr. Bishop is government clerk of the
Indian agency at the Warm Springs
reservation, rs miles south of The Dal-
les. He has been located at this point
for the last two years, and during that
time has become we'll acquainted with
the nature of the work being done by
the United States government for the
Indian wards. In the opinion of Mr..
Bishop the government schools furnish
the only means of salvation for the Red
Men. The one solution of the Indian
problem is to teach them how to work
and thus enable them to cope with the
white people. The conclusion has been
reached by those who are best able to
say so, that the Indian should be taught
but the rudiments OF the common edu-
cational branches, and that the rest of
his school time should be used in teach
ing him some branch of industrial work
Their education must be utilitarian as
much as possible, as too much culture
makes the Indian a fiat failure. The
Indians themselves, though, take more
to the school work than to the indus
trial training.
The Indian agency at the Warm
Springs reservation is considerable of an
establishment The government has
expended about $75, 900 in buildings and
equipments, and there are something
over 500 Indians on the reservation.
The Warm Springs plant consists of a
large school building, dormitory with
lOI lONg uitSS tldll, nos
pital, seamstress hall, laundry, superin-
tendent's residence, employees building,
a water works, sewer system and an
electric light plant. Altogether there
are thirteen government employees. The
reservation is about 80 miles square and
extends to the summit of the Cascade
mountains. The land is of little use for
agriculture, its chief value being for
grazing purposes. Six years ago the
land was allotted to the Indians, but
scarcel y any attempt has been made at
farming. The freight on hauling wheat
TO the nearest shipping point amounts
TO one cent pound. The Indians who
remain on the reservation turn their at
tention to raising ponies. The Linnton
horse cannery near Portland makes a
business of buying 800. or 400 Indian
eayuses each year and paws 81 so a head
for them. II costs nothing to raise the
cayuses and the owners keep track of
them by their brand This year horse
buyer from Omaha bought up 500
ponies of the better kind and paid from
s. TO $40 head for them. He shipped
them to Nebraska where he realized $40
or more apiece. About a thou
sand cayuses have been sold from
the reservation ranges this summer, but
Mr.. Bishop says the loss from the great
number left is hardly noticeable.
The work of the interior department