INDIAN OFFICE:
WRONGS DOING
AND
REFORMS NEEDED.

Philadelphia, January 8, 1874.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY, ULYSSES S. GRANT:

My Dear Sir:—Allow me to recall to your mind our first interview, a few days after your inauguration, when I was acting as chairman of a committee comprising Judge Strong, Hon. Eli K. Price, Mr. George H. Stuart, and others. We were drawn to you by the following paragraph in your inaugural address:

"The proper treatment of the original occupants of this land, the Indians, is one deserving of careful study. I will favor any course towards them which tends to their civilization, Christianization, and ultimate citizenship."

To aid you in promoting this praiseworthy object, we tendered our co-operation and that of the large body of citizens whom we represented. In the course of our friendly discussion, it was admitted that frauds in the Indian Office and Service had become chronic and difficult of cure. We suggested as a remedial measure, the appointment by you, after procuring the authority of Congress, of a small board of unpaid commissioners, men of tried integrity, to have joint control with the Secretary of the Interior, over all appropriations for Indian service, and thus to lift this ser-

2

vice above political influences and other demoralizing ten-
dencies.

You, and the then Secretary of the Interior, cordially
assented to this proposal, and Secretary Cox drafted the first
law that was enacted, thus: "The Board of Commissioners
is to exercise joint control with the Interior Department
over the disbursement of appropriations, &c."

You were pleased to appoint me on that Indian Commis-
sion, and my colleagues elected me their chairman. Owing
to influences from without and from within the department,
the sources of which were carefully concealed from that
most excellent Secretary of the Interior, instead of giving
the Board the joint control indicated in the Act of Congress,
its powers were limited to that of a mere council of advice.
Having a more thorough knowledge than some of my col-
leagues of the political power of the Indian Ring, and of
the deep-seated malady in the Indian Office, and being un-
willing to assume responsibilities without any power of con-
trol, I peremptorily resigned my commission, at the same
time pledging myself to you that I would serve the cause as
a private citizen with equal zeal and without cost of any
kind to the Government. The propriety of my course be-
came manifest in 1871, when the Indian Office was investi-
gated by a Congressional Committee, and at this time it is,
in my judgment, still more manifest.

Before I refer to the present lamentable condition of the
Indian Office, allow me to thank you with all sincerity for
your invariable kindness to me during the five years in
which I have, at much cost of time and money, co-operated
with you in your noble effort to save the remnant of our
American Indians, and thereby to remove a fearful stigma
from the nation. We all owe you a debt of gratitude for
taking Indian Agencies from those who ordinarily were
using them as party spoils, and for transferring them to the
care of religious bodies, who expend hundreds of thousands
of dollars annually in successful efforts to civilize and Chris-
tianize Indians. Again, when under authority of law you

3

deprived the Governors of Territories of their *ex-officio* right
to the superintendency of Indian affairs, you eradicated one
of the most prolific sources of the evils from which the In-
dian Service in our Territories and new States is slowly re-
covering. As you have been fully sustained in these and
other heroic acts, and as your Indian policy is no longer ex-
perimental, the present condition of the Indian Office should
not create any despondency, for I feel sure that Congress and
the people will sustain you in applying a thorough remedy.

At our recent appointed interview, I felt constrained to
inform you that since the last letting of contracts for sup-
plies, a powerful Indian Ring, comprising men whom I
named to you, had been formed, and that in some unaccount-
able way it had acquired such an influence in the Interior
Department that, if unchecked, it would undermine your
merciful policy by destroying the confidence of Congress,
and thus hindering the appropriations necessary to promote
Indian civilization. As you will remember, I further said
that my belief in the integrity of the Secretary of the In-
terior had not been impaired, and that having thoroughly
cordial relations with him, I desired to exert every persuasive
influence before invoking your aid. As these efforts have
failed to procure the reforms in the Indian Office necessary
to protect the Indian and the Government, I now present
the case to you in an open letter, as I do not feel free to con-
fer with you privately about the duties of a Cabinet officer

I notified Mr. Delano, as a friend, that he was surrounded
by influences that were operating adversely to the interests
of the Government and the Indian. He insisted upon my
preferring specific charges against his officers, instead of
looking into the office of the Second Auditor, and also into
the Returns Office himself. He could in the latter office
have seen that the law was constantly violated by keeping
contracts from public observation, although there is a penalty
of imprisonment if each contract is not speedily recorded in
that office, where it is to be kept open for public inspection.
The Secretary of the Interior was, until I recently advised

4

him, kept in ignorance of a contract made by Agent Smith, now the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, on the 8th day of November, 1872, for the illegal and, as I believe, the otherwise wrongful sale of immense bodies of pine timber, without the knowledge of some of the Indians to whom it belongs, and against the openly expressed wishes of other bands who own a portion of it. The commissioners for investigating half-breed scrip, Agent Smith and Judge Jones, one of the present examining commissioners, had previously reported timber, said to be far less valuable than this, to be worth $2.50 to $3 a thousand, and yet this contract was made at $1.15 a thousand, without advertising, or in any other way inviting competition. A portion of this timber had been previously sold by Agent Smith to Clark at $1.35 per thousand, and Clark testifies that he was willing to give that price for the whole, but Agent Smith said that he could not sell it. Agent Smith subsequently notified Clark that the contract he had entered into with him was void, because the Indians at Oak Point had determined not to sell their pine timber. Subsequently this timber, with large bodies of timber belonging to other Indians who had not been consulted, was sold to A. H. Wilder at $1.15, as before referred to.

It is true that this contract received the approval of that most honorable gentleman, General F. A. Walker, the then Commissioner of Indian Affairs. His explanation is given in the following extracts from letters written by him to me, dated December 5 and 18, and to General B. R. Cowen, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, dated November 13, 1873. General Walker sent a copy of the latter letter to me, from which it appears that General Cowen was a party to the negotiation.

(December 5.) " With reference to the specific matter of your inquiry, I would say that I do not remember ever to have heard of the refusal of the Indians at Oak Point to allow the Clark contract to be consummated until I learned it from you at our interview at the Ebbitt House, on Saturday last. If it was ever reported to the office, it either never

5

reached my eye, or I was inexcusably heedless in respect to
it, for I cannot recall the circumstance."

(December 18.) "Agent Smith was thoroughly cognizant
of the situation, yet he recommended the sale of the timber,
and approved the terms of sale in detail and as a whole."

November 13, to General Cowen.—"Mr. Smith, then
agent for these Indians, now Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
being at the time in Washington, represented to the office
in very strong terms the inadequacy of the provision that
would be effected by the sale of the timber first offered" [to
Wilder, being the same timber that had been sold by con-
tract to Clark] "and the necessity of doing something more
to relieve the Leech Lake Indians from the miserable con-
dition of vagabondage and almost of starvation in which
they were." "In the matter of a fair price for the whole
body of the timber I had a reasonable reference to the judg-
ment of Agent Smith, who stated that he was fully conver-
sant with this location, and deemed the sum named to be
reasonable and adequate." "The question submitted by
Agent Smith seemed in effect to be whether the Indians
should be permitted to starve in possession of valuable prop-
erty which they could not use, or whether that property
should be put into a form which would allow them to receive
their own self-support." "Certain I am that it was this
view of the case, as presented by Mr. Smith, which deter-
mined me to recommend that the department entertain Mr.
Wilder's proposition for the entire body of the Leech Lake
timber, and accept the same on two conditions—first, that
a fair price could be obtained for the whole; second, that
Mr. Wilder would make payment in advance of a considera-
ble sum (I think $50,000 was the sum mentioned) to enable
the agricultural improvements to be commenced with the
opening of spring. Upon the question in this form the con-
sultation between you, Mr. Smith, and myself, was free and
informal." "We are all responsible, therefore, each in his
own place and degree; you and I for giving undue weight
to the representations of the agent, the agent for making

6

representations which, if false, he must have known to be
false." "The amount which Mr. Wilder was required to
deposit in advance to the order of the Indian Office, and the
substantial bonds required from him for the proper comple-
tion of his contract, &c." If Mr. Wilder paid the $50,000
of advance money, it is certain that no part of it ever reached
the United States Treasury, or that not one dollar of it
was expended for the relief of these poor, perishing Pillager
Chippewas. General Walker, who still has confidence in
the good intentions of Agent Smith, was evidently hastened
into an approval of the contract without the knowledge
that the rightful owners of part of the timber had refused
to let it be sold; without the knowledge that it had not been
advertised, or the sale open to fair competition, and under
the belief that Indians, turbulent through starvation, yet
desiring implements of husbandry and seeds, would be re-
lieved in the early spring. By reference to the report of
Gen. Terry, you will learn that no implements of husbandry
or seeds were sent to these Indians, and that, consequently,
they are disheartened and almost starving. Even the $10,000
which was to have been paid under the terms of the contract
on the 1st day of May, was not received into the Treasury
until after the exposure of this stupendous iniquity. If the
whole truth in relation to this and other similar transactions
in that region is brought to light, I fear that the band of
white pillagers will outnumber their red brethren of that
name. Secretary Delano appointed four commissioners to
examine this and other alleged irregularities of Agent Smith,
and they, supposing that they had power to subpœna wit-
nesses, summoned me before them at St. Paul, Minnesota. I
had not thought of preferring charges against Agent Smith
until after the receipt of that summons, when, being un-
able to attend in person, I prepared charges at the request
of Secretary Delano. I append a paper from my attorneys,
who withheld the copy of my charges that I had sent to
them, because, as they say, in the midst of a community
personally interested in these lucrative contracts, an exami-

7

nation by a commission without power to compel the attendance of witnesses "can result in little more than a farce." After I heard that, instead of handing to my attorneys the copy of my letter that I had enclosed to the commissioners, they were going through the form of an investigation, I telegraphed them that Inspector Daniels, who was present in St. Paul, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, could invoke the aid of the Federal court, and thus enforce the attendance of witnesses.

From the reply of the commissioners I infer that they are quite content with the examination of parties to the contract and others like-minded, allowing the presence of an attorney for the accused, without having any one present to conduct the prosecution. The verdict of such examiners can have little influence upon the mind of any disinterested person. I stand ready to verify before a competent tribunal every charge that I made against Agent Smith, or openely to retract them, and also to add numerous charges against his conduct as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, such as the following:

Without consulting the Board of Indian Commissioners in accordance with a specific law of Congress, and without advertising, Commissioner Smith made extensive private contracts with A. H. Wilder and others, for supplies and for freight, and substituted corn for contract flour, and barreled pork for contract bacon. Some of the vouchers approved by Commissioner Smith for the expenses of Indians visiting Washington, give evidence of fraud, and surely there was great extravagance in the allowance of forty-five dollars per trip to a clerk in the Indian Office for railroad fares from New York to Washington and back, each time he spent Sundays with his family; also, six dollars a day for expenses, in addition to his regular salary. These are mere illustrations that chance to be before me at the moment, and although trifling in amount, yet they give indications of the general management of the office. I do not claim that the Secretary of the Interior is accountable for all these

8

irregularities, as vouchers are often passed in spite of his
remonstrances. Thus, there had been a persistent attempt
for a long time to foist upon the department a quack nostrum
of doubtful morality. Commissioner Smith purchased it to
the extent of five thousand dollars, and having directed that
it should be charged to the appropriation for *vaccine virus*,
it was for this cause brought to the notice of the Secretary
of the Interior, and by him disallowed, as on former occa-
sions. It was, however subsequently approved in the Sec-
retary's office, and charged to other appropriations. This
serves as an illustration of my statement that the Secretary
of the Interior should not be made responsible for all the
acts of those under him. I will, however, refer to acts for
which he is directly responsible. When the Assistant Secre-
tary of the Interior visited Indian agencies, he was allowed,
in addition to all his expenses, eight dollars a day, whilst
receiving salary as a Government officer.

This violation of the law, although unimportant in amount,
is ruinous to the morality of the department, as it practically
sanctions still greater irregularities by others who hold in-
ferior offices.

The Board of Indian Commissioners will assemble in
Washington about the middle of this month, and from them
you can learn the particulars of their recent efforts to check
irregular and fraudulent practices, and their want of success
in these efforts. Since the last public letting of contracts
for supplies, the contractors have combined, and seem to
possess greater practical influence in the Interior Depart-
ment than the Board of Indian Commissioners. Vouchers,
I learn, to the extent of nearly half a million of dollars, were
rejected by the Board of Indian Commissioners, under the
belief that they were fraudulent, illegal, or irregular, and yet
most of these have been paid by order of the Secretary of the
Interior. A beef contractor, whose fraudulent practices are
on record in the Interior Department, and whose bids were
consequently rejected by the Board of Indian Commissioners,
was allowed to sub-let the contracts for the last fiscal year.

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To guard against the recurrence of this glaring wrong, the Board of Indian Commissioners caused the following paragraph to be inserted in the proposals for supplies for the current fiscal year: "No contract, or part thereof, will be permitted to be assigned or filled by other parties, without the written consent of the Secretary of the Interior."

I was invited to be present at the opening of these bids, and was privy to the fact that the Board of Indian Commissioners endeavored to avoid the possibility of the recurrence of the wrongs of the previous year. They divided the contract for cattle between residents in Minnesota, in Nebraska, and in Kansas, and yet the same objectionable contractor has been permitted to purchase one or more of the shares, and to supply the cattle for the other contractor or contractors, with the full knowledge of the Interior Department. When awarding contracts for cattle and for freight, we were all surprised at the urgency of General Cowan, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and of Indian Commissioner Smith, that large contracts should be given to A. H. Wilder, of Minnesota. The Commissioners telegraphed to Minnesota, and found his mercantile standing good, but they were left in ignorance of the fact that five months before that time the somewhat notorious contract for pine timber had been concluded by Mr. Smith, and approved by General Cowan, Acting Secretary of the Interior, without having been reported to Secretary Delano, as he testifies. Had this fact been known, I am satisfied that the Board of Indian Commissioners would not have approved the contract with Wilder, and certainly they would not have removed the objections urged against Agent Smith in the Senate, when his name was brought before it for confirmation as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

At your request, the Board of Indian Commissioners will undoubtedly report the extent of purchases and contracts for supplies and for freight made without conference with them, and of vouchers paid without having been submitted to them, in accordance with a law of Congress, well

10

known to the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

I do not ask your help in cancelling the illegal and the fraudulent contracts for pine timber. The Secretary of the Interior has already suspended action under them, and if neither he nor Congress see fit to annul these contracts, the rights of the Indians can be sufficiently protected by the courts in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

I do respectfully but earnestly ask your aid and that of Congress in producing such a reform in the Indian Office as will protect the interests of the Indian and of the Government, and insure the continuance of the humane policy that has, from my own observation, been more successful than even the best friends of the Indian dared to hope for.

Congress is, to a certain degree, responsible for a part of the wrong. A salary of three thousand dollars a year is entirely inadequate to secure all the time of an intelligent and competent Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Salaries varying from six to ten thousand dollars and upwards are paid in our insurance companies and banks to officers of less capacity than is required properly to manage the Indian Office.

A salary of twenty-five hundred dollars a year to each Indian Agent would be true economy. In some cases the religious bodies pay the United States Indian Agent a salary in addition to the fifteen hundred dollars received from the Government, because they find that sum wholly inadequate to secure honest men with sufficient capacity for that office. This divided responsibility should be avoided, and it is rather humiliating to the Government to have charitable associations eke out the salaries of its officers, and wholly irregular for Government Agents to have two paymasters. When agents purchased the office with money or political service, and were expected to enrich themselves at the expense of the Indians, the salary was a small portion of the income. Now they are instantly removed from office if known to yield to temptations that still have great power through long usage.

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Agents with families, living on $1,500 a-year, where food is costly, and obliged to entertain strangers because of the absence of other houses, and to assist sick and poor Indians, are of necessity straitened. Poverty and debt decrease respect for the Government, and often weaken moral principles. At such a juncture men who had withstood other temptations have yielded to the persuasive overtures of contractors and speculators in pine timber. The power of these temptations is frequently increased by an alleged or real influence in the Interior Department. Sometimes the agent, when entering upon his duties, finds his reservation under the control of contractors, and, before he becomes aware of it, he has appended his signature to vouchers certified to by his employés. The discovery of this has, in several cases, demoralized the agent and placed him under the control of the experienced employé. That contractors known to be adepts in this form of villainy have influence in the Interior Department is an undeniable fact, causing much anxiety to some of the best friends of Indian civilization.

If the whole Indian service could be placed under the entire control of the Society of Friends, the many forms of demoralization, now so baleful in their influence, could be checked, Indian civilization promoted, and I do believe a million of dollars a-year saved by the Government. There is a devotion to this cause in the Society of Friends that I do not find as marked in any other religious body, and this, with their large experience, gives them peculiar facilities in procuring and supervising conscientious agents. Such a plan, if practicable, would not interfere with the missionary operations of other religious bodies, and, indeed, some of them would prefer to confine themselves to their legitimate work, allowing the governmental or secular duties to devolve on others better fitted for it. This, however, may be impracticable; but there is a change in the conduct of the Indian Office that I think can be made advantageously. I understand that in the Treasury Department the entire

12

appropriation for Indian service is included in one general
Indian account, although Congress at much labor itemizes
its appropriations. There is, therefore, no sufficient check
upon the Indian Office, and upon examination it will, no
doubt, be found that the directions of Congress are not
always regarded. Thus, the $5,000 spent for quack medi-
cine was directed to be charged to an account that should
have covered vaccine virus only. The sum of $710.31
allowed to the clerk before referred to as car fare, at three
times its actual cost, is endorsed as follows: "Approved;
charge appropriation for incidental expenses, Indian service
in Dakota. Edwin P. Smith, Commissioner." If the items
in the appropriation bill are not to be regarded, the expendi-
ture is at the discretion of the Interior Department, and it
will be much more satisfactory hereafter to appropriate a
specific sum. A reform in legislation for Indians was com-
menced last year by preventing the use of appropriations in
advance of the fiscal year, and by remanding the unexpended
balance back into the Treasury. The absence of such a law
has hitherto been a fruitful source of demoralization.

The uniform courtesy with which I have been treated in
the Interior Department makes this frank statement of
wrongs a painful duty, and yet it is one that I could not
resist, because impelled by pledges made time and again to
Indians and to their best friends. I desire it to be under-
stood that I fault no well-intentioned person because of im-
proper appointments to office, but only when such officers
are allowed to remain after their incompetency could and
should be known. I have counted the cost of making this
public statement, and, as in former instances, I am quite
prepared for misunderstandings and misrepresentations from
parties who seem to glory in wronging the Indian and the
Government. The usual course with such persons is to
charge the fearless friend of the Indian with personal vin-
dictiveness, that his influence may thereby be decreased.
Having now performed my duty as a private citizen, I am
quite content to leave the work of reform in the hands of

13

one upon whom the responsibility has been placed by the
people of this land.

Yours, very respectfully,

WM. WELSH,
1122 Spruce Street.

LETTER FROM ATTORNEYS FOR THE PROSECUTION.

TO THE HON. NELSON J. TURNEY, WILLIAM R. JENNINGS, JAMES SMITH, JR., and T. C. JONES, Commissioners appointed to investigate charges made against EDWARD P. SMITH, late Agent of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota:

Gentlemen:—Since informing you that we should prepare and present charges and specifications against Edward P. Smith, touching his official action as Indian Agent in Minnesota, we have received and examined various letters and documents which have been forwarded here by Mr. William Welsh, of the City of Philadelphia, for whom we appear as Attorneys, and have prepared such specifications as the information laid before us would seem to justify; but many of the charges can only be substantiated by the presence of witnesses who are scattered over, not only this State, but other States, and cannot be procured on the short notice given by you for the investigation. A number of parties have become interested in the Wilder, Merriam and Rust contracts, and the united influence of such interested parties is brought to bear to suppress the facts in connection with said contracts, and volunteer witnesses in support of the charges cannot be hoped for. There are many persons, as we have reason to believe, in this and other States, who could give material testimony, but who will not do so, unless compelled by legal process.

From many prudential considerations they are unwilling

14

to come into collision with Commissioner Smith, the Indian Department, and those interested parties who wish to uphold the contracts. We are informed also, that some important papers in connection with this inquiry have disappeared from the Indian Bureau at Washington, since Mr. Smith became Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and that the facts relating to the matter can only be shown by witnesses residing in the Eastern States.

We have therefore been considering the authority by which you are appointed, and your powers to enforce the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths, and compel the production of papers, &c., for without these powers the investigation can result in little more than farce; and we are surprised to find that you possess none of these very essential powers for this investigation. We find no authority for your appointment to investigate the conduct of Commissioner Smith, except the general power that any bureau officer may possess to order an informal inquiry into the conduct of one of his subordinates. You have no power to subpoena a witness, or in any way compel his attendance, or compel the production of a paper, or to administer an oath, or compel a witness to testify if present, or, if testifying, to answer any question that he might not choose to answer. Under these circumstances, you can gain no information except such as is volunteered. Mr. Welsh has informed us, since your appointment, that Secretary Delano himself admits that you have not any of these powers. We must, therefore, in view of the want of jurisdiction and the necessary powers on your part in the premises, respectfully decline to appear before you in the matter.

We may further remark, that from copies of letters and papers before us, we are of opinion that a thorough investigation by a Commission clothed with these necessary powers, will reflect unfavorably upon the official conduct of Secretary Delano, from whom you hold your appointment.

Certain it is, that nothing but a Commission authorized by law, and empowered to compel the attendance of wit-

15

nesses and the production of papers, giving ample notice of
the time of their meeting, can bring out the truth, or a
semblance of it, in connection with the management of
Indian Affairs in this State and Wisconsin, under Agent
Smith. Before such a Commission we are at all times ready
to appear, and prosecute our charges.

JNO. M. GILMAN,

GEO. L. OTIS,

Attorneys for Wm. Welsh and Harlan P. Hall.

St. Paul, Dec. 8th, 1873.

PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 17, 1874.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS.

GENTLEMEN:—In a letter dated the 10th inst., from Senator Edmunds to me, the following passage occurs: “Certainly it must be your duty, as that of every other good citizen, to apprize Congress of any wrong that you know or have good reason to believe exists, whether it affects Congress itself, or any Department, in order that a proper inquiry may be made, and I am sure that any Department that was trying to do right would court such investigation.”

This characteristic invitation from a man whom you all know to mean just what he says, removes my reluctance to perform an unpleasant duty that devolves upon me as a citizen of this Republic. The country is now threatened with two Indian wars; one of them is imminent; and any intelligent and impartial person will, I think, become convinced, after an investigation, that these Indians have been wronged and irritated by Government officials.

## CHIPPEWA INDIANS.

Contracts for the sale of large bodies of pine timber on Indian Reservations in Minnesota and Wisconsin have been made without the consent of the Indians, to whom the land and the timber belong, or, as in one case, with the consent of a portion of the Indians, obtained, as is believed, by deception. The Chippewas have been informed that these illegal sales were made by their Great Father at Washington, but this does not pacify them. The wild bands of Chippewas have been restrained from acts of violence by gentlemen who have long befriended them, and in whom they trust; these men having pledged themselves properly to represent their case in Congress. The Minnesota Legislature is now examining into these alleged frauds upon Indians in that State, and Governor Davis is apprehensive of serious trouble.

2

The reports of General Terry and other officers acting under him, will give you official information as to the disturbed condition of several bands of Chippewas, and some of the causes that have led to it.

If the Senate or the House will call for the particulars of all contracts for the sale of timber on Indian Reservations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, made within two years, and will examine into their equity and legality, these Chippewas may be pacified. Before these sales of timber are consummated, it should be borne in mind that the proximity of wood-choppers' camps to the Indian villages will fearfully demoralize both men and women, as is testified to by Bishop Whipple, and by all other experienced missionaries with whom I have conferred.

## SIOUX INDIANS.

In the other case, that of the Indians on the confines of Nebraska, Dacota, and Wyoming, there is imminent danger of a war between them and the whites. General Smith, the commander of Fort Laramie, telegraphs that a series of attacks made by Indians indicates that they are on the war path. These Sioux Indians have kept the peace since the Treaty of 1869, and it is believed that the provoking cause at this time is the infrequency of beef rations, caused, not by Congress, as alleged, but by the frauds of cattle contractors. A general war may be averted, for I know that many of the chiefs and leading braves of the Upper Brule and Ogallala Bands are altogether friendly, and will not fight against the whites, unless forced to it by wild Sioux warriors, acting through soldiers' lodges—an institution almost as exacting as our political caucuses. Troops and punishment may be necessary, but the friendly Indians should be strengthened by not allowing any further violation of treaty stipulations by the fraudulent practices of beef contractors. Evidence has been presented to me that frauds have been practised at the Red Cloud and Whetstone or Spotted Tail Agencies, with a boldness and a persistency

3

that are wholly inexplicable, except by those who are
familiar with the intimate relations of the cattle contractors
to the Interior Department, as is shown in the following
statement:

By reference to a contract privately made between Com-
missioner Parker and J. W. Bosler, on June 11th, 1870, it
will be seen that large quantities of *American* cattle were to
be furnished to the Sioux Indians, and that six and a-half
cents per pound, gross weight, were to be paid for them.

The Report of the Committee on Appropriations made to
the House of Representatives, February 25th, 1871, shows
that Bosler was allowed to deliver Texas cattle instead of
American oxen, and that he was paid six and a-half cents a
pound, gross weight, when the cattle delivered were not worth
more than half that price. It further appears that there were
frauds practised by Bosler in the weight of cattle, in flour,
and in transportation; no reclamation for these wrongs done
was ever attempted. For three years the Board of Indian
Commissioners, being merely advisory, have been baffled in
every attempt to check the alleged fraudulent practices of
this man. In advertising for bids at the last letting of con-
tracts, by a concurrence between the Interior Department
and the Board of Indian Commissioners, it was stipulated
that "no contract or part of a contract will be permitted to
be assigned, or filled, by other parties, without the written
consent of the Secretary of the Interior." This compact
was violated, as is shown by the following extract from a
report to the President of the United States just made by
Messrs. Brunot, Stuart, Farwell, Campbell and Dodge, the
Purchasing Committee of the Board of Indian Commissioners:
"The large award of cattle for the Sioux Agencies, it was
thought to be to the interest of the Government to divide,
giving it to the three lowest bidders, giving the lowest bid-
der the largest quantity and the agencies easiest of access,
and the next bidder the next larger quantity and the agen-
cies next easiest of access. Subsequently, *without consulta-
tion with your Committee*, these contracts were sublet, or per-

4

mitted to be filled by one individual whose bid had been
rejected a previous year by your Committee, on account of
suspicion of fraud in connection with previous Indian con-
tracts."

Although the Secretary of the Interior did not notify the
Board of Indian Commissioners, in accordance with his
compact, yet, as is well known, Bosler became the purchaser
of part of these contracts for cattle, and is supplying all of
them.

As has been stated, Bosler's first contract was at six and
a-half cents a pound for the gross weight of cattle, and now,
he pays a liberal profit to the contractors, and then agrees to
furnish cattle, of superior quality, at an average price of
2 60-100 cents per pound. The uninitiated can hardly un-
derstand how he can make a profit sufficiently large to in-
duce him to undertake this hazardous business, and to enable
him to procure the protection of the Interior Department,
when the letter and the spirit of a compact are being violated.
If the following allegations are correct, the profit may still
be very great. 1. It is said that a few large oxen are weighed
or estimated, to fix the average weight for all the cattle de-
livered. 2. Stampedes occur or are promoted, and many of
the oxen belonging to the Agency join the contractor's herd
3. Indians are persuaded or bribed to give false returns of
the number of lodges, and thus they obtain a larger issue of
oxen than they are entitled to, the contractor buying them
back for a mere trifle.

The chief injury, however, arises from this tampering
with the Indians, to make them friendly with the contractor,
and unfriendly to the agent and the government. Ten mil-
lions of pounds of cattle was the estimated consumption at
Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies for the fiscal year
beginning July 1st, 1873, and ten millions one hundred and
seventy-two thousand pounds of cattle have been paid for,
for deliveries to December 15th. The deliveries at some
other Agencies during six months are also in excess of the
estimates for the year. This refutes the charges made that

5

Congress was illiberal, and thus began the trouble with these Sioux.

By reference to the report just made to the President of the United States by the Executive Committee of the Board of Indian Commissioners comprising Messrs. Stuart, Bishop, Dodge and Tobey, it will be seen, that in ten months they disapproved, or recommended to be suspended, 39 vouchers representing $426,909.96, in addition to cash vouchers, of which they made no record. The Committee received official notice that their action had been sustained on only three vouchers amounting to $5,697.10. Eighteen vouchers representing $369,520.97, were paid after the Secretary of the Interior had set aside the action of the Commissioners. They were not informed as to the disposition made of the remaining 15 vouchers, representing $51,691.99. Of the vouchers, set aside by the Committee and paid by order of the Secretary of the Interior, nearly $200,000 were for cattle furnished by Bosler, under the contracts awarded to Dodge, Wilder, and Slavens. These contractors have, it appears, been paid for more cattle said to have been delivered at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies in five and a-half months, than the estimated supply for the whole year, ending July 1st, 1874. Two Special Commissioners sent to these Agencies last summer by Secretary Delano, notified him of fraudulent practices in the delivery of cattle; and a confidential clerk of the Board of Indian Commissioners, sent by them, confirms this report, and testifies that the regular issues of cattle were at times suspended, thereby irritating these Indians, who are dependent on Government rations for their support. A prominent army officer, who has been at these Agencies often, testifies to the inferiority of the cattle in size, and Spotted Tail visited the Governor of Wyoming last month, and among the complaints he sent to the "Great Father" was this: "Our beef cattle are small, some smaller, others very small." A letter received by me from a thoroughly reliable person, says, that he is familiar with the cattle purchased by Bosler at Ellsworth, Kansas,

6

and elsewhere, for the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies,
and that among them, there were yearlings, two year olds,
poor cows, bulls and stags, with a few large cattle that were
weighed or estimated, to give a high average. These alleged
frauds are well known to the Indians, and are naturally a
cause of constant irritation, and if the country is involved
in an Indian war, fomented wholly or even partially by the
deprivation of beef rations, owing to these fraudulent prac-
tices, it will surely lead to thorough remedial measures. It
further appears from the report of the Board of Indian
Commissioners that all the vouchers are not submitted to
them in accordance with the law, as interpreted by Assistant
Attorney General W. H. Smith, in his letter dated January
31st, 1873, from which the following is an extract:

Act of July 15, 1870, says: "It shall be the *duty* of said Commissioners to supervise all expenditures of money appropriated for the benefit of the Indians in the United States, and to inspect all goods purchased for said Indians in connection with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose duty it shall be to consult said Commissioners in making purchases of such goods."

By this act, said Commission is expressly charged with the
duty of supervising *all expenditures* for the benefit of Indians
in the United States, and required to inspect all goods pur-
chased for them, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs is
required "to consult with the Commission in making such
purchases."

By a letter from the Hon. Columbus Delano, dated June
10th, 1873, it appears that the Secretary does not submit all
vouchers to the Board of Indian Commissioners. Secretary
Delano says: "I am of opinion that all the accounts above
named are required by law to be referred to the Board for
their action, except the following: to wit, the accounts of
Superintendents and Agents for salaries and traveling ex-
penses for themselves and their employés; the accounts of
special Commissioners and special Agents, including In-
spectors, after the 1st of July next, for compensation and

7

traveling expenses, and the accounts of employés for services rendered by them."

The Executive Committee, in their Report, say that the accounts of Inspectors, Special Commissions, Commissioners, &c., are not sent to them, because of the interpretation put upon the law by the Secretary of the Interior. The Executive Committee also report the following instance in which they disapproved vouchers for transportation, to the extent of $23,000, and their action was set aside by the Secretary of the Interior, and the vouchers paid. The case was that of a *retro active* new contract, made without the concurrence of the Board of Indian Commissioners, for the transportation of merchandise, by which the contractor was paid $1.75 per hundred pounds, per hundred miles, from Cheyenne to the new Red Cloud Agency, estimating the distance at *two hundred and twelve miles*. The original contract was at $1.20, and the sub-contractor carried the freight for less than $1.10, and was paid for *one hundred and seventy-five miles*, which is the real distance.

As the report of these Committees of the Board of Indian Commissioners to the President is an official paper, that may not be copied in full in newspapers, allow me to call your attention to reported purchases by the Indian Office to the extent of $873,587.66, made since March 1st, largely without advertising in accordance with law, and wholly without consultation with the Board, as is explicitly directed in the statute of July 15th, 1870. The Executive Committee give the details of these purchases, which, if *examined carefully*, will reveal some of the wrong-doings in the Indian Office, and will show the absolute need of a thorough joint control by the Board of Indian Commissioners, if any practical reform is to be introduced into the Indian service. These purchases were chiefly made by the present Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and it does not appear that the Secretary of the Interior has expressed any disapprobation of this flagrant violation of a law that he thoroughly understands. As the condition of the finances of the country

8

demands that every wasteful expenditure shall be avoided,
and as Congress seems to have resolved on making such
reforms, my end will be answered if I have called your
attention to one or two of the modes by which losses may
be avoided, and peace with Indians promoted.

Allow me to add, that notwithstanding the present
troubles with Indians and Government officers, I continue
to be a full believer in the present Indian policy, which you
will find ably set forth in the report signed by Generals
Sherman, Harney, Augur, Terry, and others, when acting
as Peace Commissioners, in 1868.

Yours, respectfully,

WM. WELSH.

SALES OF INDIANS' PINE TIMBER.

PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 13th, 1874.

HON. COLUMBUS DELANO,

*Secretary of the Interior.*

DEAR SIR:—Your continued unwillingness to annul the injurious contracts for the sale of immense bodies of pine and cedar timber, on Indian reservations in Minnesota and Wisconsin, made by the Interior Department, without warrant of law, and against the wishes and best interests of the Indians who are its lawful owners, compels me, as the friend of these Indians, to review the recent Report of a so-called Investigating Commission, which, without such a review, might seem to justify the perpetuation of this wrong.

1st. It is alleged in the pamphlet that the Commission was organized at my instance, to investigate charges made by me against Agent E. P. Smith. This statement you know to be wholly erroneous, for I was not consulted as to the creation of the Commission, or the selection of its members. My letter, dated two weeks after the formation of the Commission, contained the only charges made by me; it was written at your request, and it related solely to transactions connected with sales of timber on Indian reservations. If the Commission had acted with customary propriety, they would have returned that letter to me, because my counsel had refused to conduct the case before a Commission without power to enforce the attendance of witnesses. The Commissioners are alone responsible for the publicity given to that letter, and for its misuse in other respects.

2

2d. The Commission expresses surprise that "having the Marshal to execute process, and furnished with the means for defraying the expenses of witnesses, and proper officers to take the testimony," my attorneys would not appear before them. All the readers of that paragraph with whom I have conversed, supposed that the Commission was willing to compel the attendance of witnesses by the help of the Marshal, whilst at first they had not that power, and after it was placed within their reach, they were disinclined to use it. My Attorneys—having facts within their reach, stated that "A number of persons have become interested in the Wilder, Merriam and Rust Contracts, and the united influence of such interested parties is brought to bear to suppress the facts in connection with said contracts and volunteer witnesses in support of the charges cannot be hoped for," and that "under these circumstances you can gain no information except such as is volunteered," —"we must, therefore, respectfully decline to appear before you." The action of my counsel has since been justified by the investigation of the Wilder Contract before a Committee of the Legislature of Minnesota.—Judge Gilfillan testified, that he had drawn for Mr. Wilder, a transfer of one-fifth of the pine and cedar timber purchased from Agent Smith, to a man by the name of Dwyer, who it seems to be assumed would not be likely to have taken on his own account so large an interest in this immense contract. How far the fear of exposures, in connection with this or other transfers, may have influenced your Commissioners, they have not revealed; but enough has been brought to light to justify my Attorneys in the course they took. At the interview of two of the Commissioners with me in this city I expressed, orally and by letter, my readiness to appear before them and to furnish my papers, if they could and would compel the attendance of witnesses.

3d. The Commissioners say that the sale of pine timber by Agent Smith to F. P. Clark, was made hon-

3

estly, equitably, and as a necessary measure of relief
to starving Indians. There is certainly room for grave
questions as to the honesty of a sale made under the
following circumstances: Agent Smith did not allow
time for the purchasers to examine any portion of that
for which they were asked to bid. Your Commissioners
assert "that publication was made in the newspapers
for nearly four weeks." I am informed that it was
advertised only seven times in one paper in Minne-
apolis, and not in St. Paul. The first advertisement
appeared on *Sunday*, July 14th, and the subsequent
advertisements were from the 23d to the 28th of July;
the bids to be opened at the White Earth Reservation,
a very distant point, on the first of August. The
advertisement of the 14th of July was the only one
that was generally available, as a bid mailed on the 23d
would not have reached the White Earth Reservation
until after the first of August. Eugene M. Wilson,
formerly member of Congress, and others, testified
before the Committee of the Minnesota Legislature,
that from the form of advertisement and the short time
allowed, and other circumstances, they did not think it
a *bona fide* proposal. F. P. Clark went in person, and
he swears that he was obliged to pay Lorrin Fletcher,
the intimate friend of Agent Smith, $1200 to tell him
the lowest price at which he could purchase the timber,
and to secure the contract for him. Agent Smith
admits that Clark paid $1200 to Fletcher, averring, how-
ever that Fletcher said he received this consideration for
declining to bid for the timber. The contract was ex-
ecuted by Agent Smith, the price being $1.35 per M.
for the pine timber belonging to the very needy In-
dians situated on Oak Point, their consent having been
previously obtained. If the timber had been properly
advertised, time allowed for its examination, and then
sold in lots to suit purchasers, it would no doubt have
brought twice or three times the price for which it was
sold. Subsequent events show that it was not disposed
of by Agent Smith as a measure of relief to starving

4

Indians, and the advertisement must have been very
insufficient when even Mr. Wilder did not hear of it
until fifteen days after the time had expired. Do you
believe that any honest real estate agent would thus
treat the property of his ignorant wards? and would
you continue your own business with such an agent?

4th. The Report attempts to justify the cancellation
of this sale to Clark, and the subsequent sale to A. H.
Wilder. Custom and law alike reject bids received
after the time fixed in an advertisement, as was the
case with Wilder's bid. Indeed, it was not made or
even thought of until after Agent Smith had com-
pleted the contract with Clark. If this fact had been
stated to so honorable a gentleman as the then Com-
missioner of Indian Affairs, he would not have re-
fused to approve that contract; and if he had been
told that F. P. Clark was willing to give $1.35 for
all the pine timber, as is asserted by Clark, and virtu-
ally admitted by Agent Smith, or if he had been in-
formed of its true value, he would not have approved a
contract to Wilder at $1.15. R. J. Baldwin, a banker,
of Minneapolis, testified before the Legislative Com-
mittee that he heard Clark offer $1.35 for all the pine
timber on the Leech Lake Reservation, and that he
heard Smith promise to let him have it if he could.

Agent Smith asserts that he did not see Wilder un-
til five hours after he had telegraphed to Clark that the
Indians had refused to allow the contract he had made.
Surely there was ample time between August 15th, when
Wilder heard of the advertisement, and October 14th,
when Smith telegraphed Clark that his contract was
valueless, for Wilder to have communicated in some
other way his desire to purchase this valuable body of
timber. On the 12th of August, the same day that
Smith executed the Clark contract for which Fletcher
was paid $1200, he executed a contract with Merriam,
Wilder's partner, for an immense body of valuable pine
timber on Red Lake. As L. Fletcher was a witness
to and partner in this contract, and as Merriam was in

5

constant intercourse with his partner, it is easy to see
how Wilder heard of the Clark contract and the ob-
scure advertisement, and how he could communicate
with Agent Smith about the best mode of consummating
a stupendous wrong. To cancel one contract at $1.35
because the Indians objected to the sale at that rate,
and then to sell at $1.15, on much more unfavorable
terms for the Indians as to delivery, &c., is a proceed-
ing it would not be easy to justify. By the Clark con-
tract, wrong as it was, "the poor, perishing, Pillager
Indians" would have had a larger and earlier pecuniary
relief than by the Wilder contract. Clark was com-
pelled to pay for all the timber in four years whilst Mr.
Wilder is not obligated to cut or pay for any timber be-
longing to these Indians for twenty years, as his purchase
includes the timber of ten tribes or bands, and he is to
put a distinguishable mark on each log, that the band
to which it belongs may be credited with the money
received for it. It appears that Mr. Wilder made a
nominal bid of $1.60 for the timber that Clark had al-
ready contracted for, but by reading the letter of Fran-
cis A. Walker, the then Commissioner of Indian Af-
fairs, which was received as evidence, you can perceive
the deep laid scheme. Mr. Walker says that Mr.
Wilder objected "to make good his bid unless the De-
partment would give some assurance that other parties
would not be let in to cut timber on the stream behind
him." That letter shows how Mr. Walker was deceived
into the approval of the contract, which it is alleged
and believed had been previously prepared in Minne-
sota with the utmost care. It covers an immense tract of
country filled with navigable streams and belonging to
some ten bands of Chippewa Indians. Wilder is only
obligated to take trees that are thoroughly sound and
merchantable, 14 inches through, 25 feet above the
butt—say about one-half of the timber on the reser-
vation. He has the *liberty* to take at any time
during 20 years, at the same price, any or all the
other pine and cedar timber on the reservation paying

6

for it as he takes it away. If he does not remove it in 20 years, he is then to pay for such trees as he is willing to take, and there is no limit in the contract as to the time for cutting or removing such timber. During the first ten years he is to pay for timber to the extent of $28,000 a-year; but during the second period of ten years he is to pay each year for one-tenth of the excess of the very large sound trees that he is bound to receive. Any depredation by Indians is to be estimated and deducted from the payment for timber, but there is no arrangement in the contract by which the Indians are to be compensated for wrongs done by the lawless wood-choppers, and other agents of the contractor. Your Commission has reported this as a fair transaction, although one of them with Commissioner Smith had estimated less valuable timber on the adjoining townships to be worth $2.50 to $3 per M., if sold in the ordinary way, by which all merchantable timber is to be paid for and removed within two or three years. This valuation, you will find in their Report, dated November 25, 1872, seventeen days after the sale to Wilder. I have testimony from those who have thorough practical knowledge, that the timber sold to Wilder is much more valuable, because better located, than that appraised by Messrs. Jones & Smith. If timber is worth $2.50 to $3, when sold in the ordinary way, it should bring at least $4 under such a contract as that allowed to Mr. Wilder. Among other evidence to this effect is the following testimony before the Minnesota Senatorial Committee:

"Augustus D. Prescott, a lumberman, familiar with the Leach Lake reservation—having been over it many times and logged there one season—estimates there is about a thousand million feet of standing merchantable pine on the reservation. Stumpage in the vicinity of Leach Lake runs as high as $3 a thousand, and under the Wilder contract, allowing time for cutting and increasing of value, the Leach Lake pine, he thinks, is worth at least $4 a thousand. The country, he says,

7

is not subject to fires, and, except that a tow steamer
would be needed on the lakes, driving is not difficult.
The limitation to sound timber, 14 inches at 25 feet
from the ground, he regards as extremely liberal to the
buyer."

"Joel B. Bassett has been a manufacturer of lumber for most of the 20 years that he has resided in Minnesota, but was Indian Agent, having his office at the Leach Lake Agency, in 1867, '68 and '69. He has no doubt there is a thousand million feet of merchantable pine on the reservation. He thinks the pine sold to Wilder is worth $3 a thousand feet, and would be a good bargain at that price; also that the cedar, of which there is an immense amount, will be ultimately of great value. The lakes and streams will prevent fires from spreading. Most of the logs from the reservation can certainly be run out the first season. In his judgment there is about one-sixth of the pine on the reservation on that part of it which belongs to the Pillagers; not over two hundred million feet, but enough and distinct from the rest, so that it could have been sold by itself. The highest price could be obtained for pine by selling it in lots to suit purchasers, but there would be no difficulty in finding men who would be glad to secure the whole of it."

The exposure of the sub-contract to Dwyer, before
referred to, as made very privately by Mr. Wilder, has,
no doubt, led to the compromise just entered into by
him with the Minnesota Legislature, whereby Wilder
entered into an obligation to release all school and
swamp lands included in his contract, that the State
may establish its claim upon, and from this release the
gain by the State of Minnesota is estimated by a com-
mittee of the Legislature at one and a-quarter millions
of dollars. The testimony of Surveyor-General Camp.
Surveyor-General of logs and lumber, as reported by
that committee, shows that the entire pine supplies of
the Upper Mississippi will, at the present ratio of
increasing use, be exhausted in fifteen years. The

8

committee begs the Legislature to stop the sales of pine stumpage on school and university lands, averaging that a sale at $2.50 per thousand is a robbery of the school and university funds, because in ten years, pine will be worth four times that sum. The Committee also protested against the sales to Wilder and George M. Merriam, his partner, of the great bodies of pine timber on the Leech Lake and Red Lake reservations, as creating great and dangerous monopolies. Estimating the pine and cedar sold under the Wilder contract as worth $2.50 a thousand for the first ten years, $5 for the second ten, and $10 for that cut after twenty years, the profit would, as estimated by experts, vary from two to five millions of dollars. Four experts testified to the Committee of the Minnesota Legislature, that in their opinion, the whole tract will yield a thousand millions of pine lumber. This immense sale was made without any thorough investigation as to the extent, character and situation of the timber, without advertising, without any competition, without notice to the owners of the timber, and against their wishes. The plea that the sales were made solely out of regard to the Indians is utterly fallacious, as the Commissioners could easily have learned had they been pleased to make the inquiry. General Terry and the other officers stationed in Minnesota, would, if called upon, have testified that it will be difficult to control those uncivilized Indians because thus wronged of their property. Bishop Whipple, the Rev. Mr. Gilfillan, his white missionary to the Chippewas, and the Rev. Mr. Johnson, his Indian missionary, all on terms of friendship with Messrs. Wilder and Smith, would have testified to the fearfully demoralizing influences of wood-choppers' camps upon both men and women belonging to uncivilized Indian tribes. The Commission refers to a sale of Timber on the Rabbit Lake Reservation with the Indians' approval, all the consideration being secured to them, and a sale of Timber by Indians that was held to be legal,

9

although made without the assent of the United States.
It is not easy to understand the process of reasoning
by which these sales justify contracts made *without* the
approval of Indians.

Your commission was unable in its report to refer to
any Act of Congress authorizing such sales as that to
Wilder, and the opinions of Chief Justice Marshall and
other able judges must be overthrown before a sale
against the wishes of the Indians can be made valid. Such
acts as these, sanctioned by no law, are, to quote the
language of Senator Carpenter, used in another case
of attempted wrong to the Indians, "repudiation doubly
infamous from the fact that the parties whose claims
were thus annulled are too weak to enforce their just
rights, and were enjoying the voluntarily assumed
guardianship and protection of this Government."

On the second day of December last you gave me
notice that you had suspended all operations under the
Pine contracts in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but that
order does not seem to have been regarded where
they were engaged in cutting timber, and Wilder would
not have executed the agreement with the Legislature
of Minnesota a week since, unless he had considered
himself the authorized representative of the parties who
had possessed themselves of the Indians' timber.

5. The contract for the sale of pine timber on the Lac de Flambeau Indian reservation, executed at Chicago in March, 1873, not having been approved owing to an objection made by Congressmen from Wisconsin, to unadvertised contracts, no practical benefit can result from its further consideration. That each person named by me took part in preparing or in sanctioning the contract, is admitted in their testimony. On their own affidavits I am willing to free them from the charge of intentional wrong made against them by those who revealed the transaction. Every Court in the United States would pronounce it "wrongful" for trustees or guardians to sell immense bodies of timber without advertising, or other public notice, without

10

competition or such a subdivision as would make any great competition possible, and without a personal examination, or inspection by an expert in the sole interest of the trust. Indians are surely entitled to equal consideration by the Government and its officers.

6th. E. P. Smith's testimony as to the sale of pine timber to George N. Merriam at a lower rate than that offered by N. P. Clark is far from being satisfactory. As you well know, it is quite usual to allow lower bidders to buy off those who offer a higher price, thus wronging the Indian, because he has no one to look after his interests. In this sale of timber on the Red Lake Reservation, L. Fletcher, who received $1,200 for facilitating another purchase, was a witness, and he and Gen. John B. Sanborn have shares in the purchase, as Fletcher testified before the Legislative Committee. The sale to George N. Merriam of the Red Lake timber was made on August 12th, 1872; but it was not approved until November 8th, when Agent E. P. Smith was in Washington, facilitating the operations of Wilder, Merriam's partner. If you will refer to a letter to me, dated December 11th, 1873, from the acting Commissioner of Indian affairs, you will find this significant paragraph:—"In reply to yours of 5th inst. I would state that Mr. Clark's letter withdrawing his bid, was dated simply October, 1872, and that no particular date can be gleaned from it. The official stamp thereon, shows it to have been received at this office, November 8th, 1872." An investigation of the means taken to get the consent of some of the Red Lake Indians to this contract, would, I think satisfy any fair-minded person, that the contract was wrongfully made. When an Indian Agent makes a league with a speculator in timber, the poor Indian has no one to represent his interests. You have, no doubt, heard, that there is much dissatisfaction among these Indians, as they believe that they have been wronged by one who should have been their protector. The Red Lake Reservation comprises nearly three millions of acres of land,

II

hence the iniquity of a sale of timber on this immense
tract without advertising or competition, or a sub-divis-
ion, that would bring it within the reach of the great
body of lumber dealers. The remonstrance by the
Legislature of Minnesota against this sale, should cause
the attention of Congress to be given to this grievous
wrong to Indians, who have been the friends and allies
of our citizens.

7th. Your Commissioners seem to justify the con-
tract made between Agent S. N. Clark, and William
A. Rust, for a large body of pine timber, on the Lac
Court d' Oreilles Reservation. The history of this con-
tract is most humiliating. A member of a firm of claim
agents, who seems to have remarkable capacity for in-
fluencing his fellow-man, sought out Agent S. N. Clark,
at his home on Lake Superior, and, as he alleges, pro-
duced evidence of being in high favor in the Interior De-
partment, and that the chief officers in that department
would be much gratified if a contract could be made
for pine timber on an Indian Reservation. Clark
avers that he was averse to selling timber that he had
never seen, and of the value of which he had no idea.
This Washington expert as Clark says, succeeded in
tempting him at a moment of great bodily weakness, and
obtained from him on the second day of October, 1872, a
contract in the name of William A. Rust, to authorize
the cutting of an unlimited quantity of timber, on the
Lac Court d' Oreilles Reservation, by stipulating for
the payment of $10,000 a year for five years. For the
payment of $50,000, the Contractor had liberty to take
timber, during ten years, of the value of a million dol-
lars, or more, if, as is believed, Pine Trees to that ex-
tent could be found on the Reservation. Clark says
that he shrank from this act; but he was assured that it
would be all right in the Interior Department, and that
if he insisted upon it John L. Delano, your son, and pri-
vate Secretary, would meet him in Chicago, and assure
him that all was right. This, however, was not neces-
sary, for eight days after the signing of the contract

12

your name was affixed to it in Washington. It is
true that the approval of the Indians was necessary
to the completion of the contract; and some of them
did approve, but not in the presence of any United
States officer, and as has since been credibly asserted,
their signatures were obtained by fraudulent means.
When you were remonstrated with, you stopped action
under the contract. A supplemental contract was, how-
ever, made on February 6th, 1873, giving William A.
Rust and his associates possession of this reserva-
tion for ten years longer, on the payment of $5,000 a
year for 15 years; the approval by some of the
Indians of this supplemented contract was also obtain-
ed by fraud, as is alleged and believed. The copy
of the contract that was given to the Indians, they sent
to me; it was interlined with an agreement that the
whole of the purchase money should be paid directly
to the Indians, and you are aware of the difficulties
occasioned by this. I have the original correspon-
dence on the subject, and would gladly have produced
it before any Commission having the power to compel
the attendance of witnesses.

In the testimony of E. P. Smith, he twice refers to
an alleged conversation with the Hon. H. M. Rice, in
which he makes Mr. Rice say "that $50,000 was as
good as $100,000 to the Indians, as they would squan-
der it, in any event." Mr. Rice denies this charge
positively, in the following words: "I opposed the sale
in the strongest language I could use, upon the ground
that it was a fraud, a cheat, a swindle of the largest
magnitude. I did say that it made no difference wheth-
er the price was $50,000 or $100,000, as the price
made it no less a fraud and swindle. I was at the time
ignorant of the fact, that Smith was trying to get Clark
to sell the timber to Wilder. This he concealed from
me, and when he said that Clark ought not to have
sold it for less than $100,000, I did not know that these
were his and Wilder's figures."

Mr. Rice, from first to last, has written to me

13

that this sale and the efforts of Smith to supplant
the purchaser, were grossly fraudulent. These Indians
looked to him and to Bishop Whipple as their best
friends, and after ten years of intimacy with Mr.
Rice; I say with confidence that no Indian ever
had a better, a more disinterested, or a more self-
sacrificing friend than the Hon. Henry M. Rice. When,
recently, there was imminent danger of a collision be-
tween the State authorities and the Indians, Governor
Davis, (of Minnesota,) sent Mr. Rice as a Commis-
sioner to the offending bands of Chippewas. I have
in my possession letters written by the Chiefs of these
bands, offering to give up the offender to Mr. Rice,
and to abide by his decision. Your Commissioners, in
screening guilty officials, may throw doubts upon the
character of such a man, but Indian wars will cease
when such men as Mr. Rice have authority to treat
with them; for the Red Man instinctively reverences
bravery, truth, and honor.

Your Commissioners, turning aside from the subject
under investigation, are pleased to give me the follow-
ing good advice: "This man is ever profuse in profes-
sions of confidence in the President of the United
States. Then, why, if his object be in good faith, to
bring about a reformation in the service, and to secure
the dismissal of dishonest officials, does he not go to
the President, and lay before him the documents which
are claimed to be sufficient to secure the conviction of
these officials? or why does he not go to the Secretary
at the head of the proper Department, to whom he has
been equally profuse in professions, and request that
he shall examine the documents upon which he bases
these accusations? He certainly must know, if his
testimony is of the conclusive character claimed, the
dismissal of the officials accused would be instantly or-
dered." This is sound reasoning, and perhaps the only
thoroughly sound reasoning in the report. It seems
to call for a reply, and it will afford me pleasure to
show how fully I have heretofore acted in accord with the

14

views thus expressed. In the autumn of 1870, on my
second semi-official visit of that year to Indian Agencies
on the Missouri River, then under my supervision, I dis-
covered that General Parker, Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, was lend ng himself to stupendous frauds. Im-
mediately on my return I went to Washington, and, as
you know, had a private, earnest talk with President
Grant. He seemed unwilling to investigate, or to have
any investigation of Commissioner Parker's doings.
Owing to implicit confidence in his friends, he is too often
blind to their wrong doings. I then laid the whole matter
before you, and, perhaps out of respect to the Chief
Magistrate, you evinced no willingness to make the
investigation. I finished my semi-official report in your
office, and read it to you. As the frauds affected the
Indians then under my care, I could not rest without
trying to remedy the wrong. I asked you to loan me
the report for publication in the Daily Chronicle. You
gave it to me for that purpose, saying, however, that
you would have no responsibility in its publication. It
resulted in a Congressional investigation, by which
huge frauds in contracts for freight and cattle and flour
were revealed, and remedies attempted by legislation.
Out of regard to the President, the Report of the in-
vestigating committee was very mild, although it set
forth all the important facts. The following paragraph
is part of the conclusion reached: "To the mind of the
committee the testimony shows irregularities, neglect,
and incompetency, and, in some instances, a departure
from the express provisions of law for the regulation
of Indian expenditures, and in the management of af-
fairs in the Indian Department." Yet, this neglectful,
incompetent, and lawless Commissioner of Indian Af-
fairs, was allowed to remain in office many months, and
until it pleased him to resign.

Your investigating commissioners will thus see that
my action at that time corresponded with their views.
When stupendous frauds occurred in the appropr a-
tions to the Teton Sioux, and at Grand River Agency,

15

on the Upper Missouri, I conferred privately with you
and with the Assistant Secretary, General Cowen, about
it, but I never heard of any effort made to investigate
these frauds, or to punish the offenders. Recently,
when frauds in beef and flour were perpetrated at the
Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies, over which I and
my colleagues have official oversight, and when the
Chippewas, who claim me as their friend, and with
whose missionaries I have an official connection, com-
plained of being wronged by fraudulent sales of their
pine timber, I could not rest on an unavailing remon-
strance. You know that I sought a private interview
with the President, and that for months I had been
pleading with you in vain to obtain a remedy. In spite
of all this, I still have hope that you will remedy the
wrong done to the Chippewas, now that the testimony
taken by the committee of the Minnesota Legislature
has brought to light the truth that your commission
failed to reveal.

Yours respectfully,

WM. WELSH.

REPORT

OF

THE COMMISSIONERS

APPOINTED BY THE

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR

TO EXAMINE THE

RED CLOUD AND WHETSTONE INDIAN AGENCIES.

THE COMMISSION CONSISTED OF RIGHT REVEREND BISHOP W H. HARE, MISSIONARY BISHOP OF NIOBRARA; REVEREND SAMUEL D. HINMAN, MISSIONARY TO THE SANTEE SIOUX; DOCTOR J. D. BEVIER, ONE OF THE FIVE INDIAN INSPECTORS; AND FRANCIS H. SMITH, MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS.

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTIN OFFICE.
1874.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Washington, D. C., April 23, 1874.

This report, in addition to the results of its investigation of certain
charges against the agents at Red Cloud and Whetstone agencies, made
by one Samuel Walker, contains a full account of the affairs of these
agencies and of the general condition of the Sioux Indians, including
the Upper Brulé and Ogallala Sioux, who have settled at these places,
as well as the condition of the wild tribes, consisting of Sans Arcs,
Minneconjous, Uncpapas, &c., who still refuse to accept treaty relations
with the Government.

It is replete with information in regard to the whole subject, and is
accompanied with important suggestions and recommendations in behalf
of the Indian service, and in support of what is generally called the
peace policy of the Government.

E. P. SMITH,
*Commissioner.*

REPORT.

To the Honorable C. DELANO,
*Secretary of the Interior :*

SIR: The commission appointed to investigate into the administra-
tion of the Red Cloud and Whetstone (Spotted Tail) agencies, and to
inquire into the temper and condition of the Indians connected with
these agencies, and to make such recommendations as upon examination
should seem to them judicious as to the line of policy to be pursued to-
ward them, beg leave respectfully to report that they met at the Red
Cloud agency, Dakota, March 16, 1874, all the commissioners being pres-
ent, as follows: F. H. Smith, one of the board of Indian commissioners ;
J. D. Bevier, United States Indian inspector; Rev. S. D. Hinman, for
fifteen years missionary among the Santee Sioux; and W. H. Hare, mis-
sionary bishop to the Indians.

On motion, it was resolved that the commissioners organize and con-
duct their proceedings as a single body. Thereupon, William H. Hare
was chosen chairman of the commission, and F. H. Smith secretary.

CONDITION OF THE INDIANS.

Before reporting the results of their mission, it may be well to state that the Indians properly connected with the Red Cloud and the Whetstone agencies are the Ogallallas and the Upper Brulés, respectively. They are among the most distant of the Sioux from civilizing influences, and the last who have accepted a position of dependence upon the Government, and their agencies are the resort during the winter of multitudes of northern Indians, (Minneconjous, Sans Arcs, Uncpapas, &c.,) variously estimated at from 10,000 to 15,000 in number, who range over districts still further removed from civilization and the power of the Government, and who, when driven in from their roving life upon the plains farther north by the rigors of the winter, come to the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies, attracted by the rations which the Government dispenses there.

The wilder spirits among the Ogallallas and Upper Brulés find in these
sojourners congenial company. Combined, they constitute a turbulent
party, which for the time rules the agencies with a high hand. The
better-disposed Indians have not yet reached strength enough, either in
number or character, to resist these impetuous hordes from the north
and their abettors. Those who sincerely desire to learn a better way
dare not raise their heads; and those who favor progress in quiet times,
because it seems the winning side, are politic enough to float with the
tide when its tumultuous waters run the other way. From the time of
the arrival of these outside bands, white men living on the reservation
are careful not to expose themselves after nightfall, and those who for
months have been accustomed to travel through the country alone
without fear of molestation, seek an escort of friendly Indians. The
agents are subjected to intimidation and to the most violent and un-
reasonable demands, while now and then small war-parties dash off

6

into the adjacent country in the hope of happening upon a stray soldier
or finding an opportunity of running off stock.

This turbulence usually continues and increases until it reaches its
climax about the time when the severity of the winter is relaxing and
the visitors from the north are beginning to make their preparations
for a return to their wild northern retreats.

Your commissioners found that the past winter had been no exception
to the general rule. Comparative quiet prevailed at both agencies dur-
ing all last summer and early fall, but upon the incoming of the north-
ern Indians trouble at once began. The most extravagant demands
were made for rations, and enforced by intimidation. The efforts of the
agents to make a census of the people (which was essential to the proper
regulation of the issue of rations) were thwarted and defied. When
registration was notwithstanding attempted, the agents were forcibly
restrained, and their lives were threatened, and they were informed
that should they dare pass beyond certain limits, which were marked
out for them, they would do it at their peril.

Early in February, a war-party, one or two hundred strong, was or-
ganized—perhaps there were several of them—and started on a maraud-
ing expedition for the settlements farther south.

Your commissioners have no exact information as to the amount of stock
which was run off by these parties; but within ten days, a man named
King, a hunter, was shot on Laramie Fork; Edgar Gray, a teamster,
was killed on the Running Water; Lieutenant Robinson and Corporal
Coleman, while absent from their train, were pursued and killed near
Laramie Peak; and Frank D. Appleton, clerk, was shot dead (as is sup-
posed, by one of the above-mentioned war-party on its return) within
the stockade at the Red Cloud agency.

There is sufficient evidence to satisfy the commission that the bet-
ter spirits discountenanced these lawless proceedings; that the murder
of Appleton moved one of the chiefs to tears; that the agents were able
to form a number of the Indians into a guard to protect themselves and
their agencies; that one Indian, and he a northern man, demanded the
return of stolen horses from a war-party of which his nephew was a
leader, and, when it was refused, shot him and rescued the stolen prop-
erty by force; and that another defended his agent at the peril of his
own life. But, notwithstanding, turbulence seems to have reigned for
some time almost supreme.

## IS WAR THE NEEDED REMEDY?

Lamentable as has been the condition of affairs, your commissioners
have not discovered any proof that the Indians have been preparing for,
or intending to provoke, a war with the United States. While it cannot
be affirmed that these Indians are generally friendly in their feelings to
the whites, their loyalty to the Great Father is evidently both general
and deep-seated. It is, moreover, plain that there have been no common
councils against the whites, and that there has been no concentrated action.
Confirmatory of this opinion is the fact that when the troops appeared
at the agencies the great body of Indians who belonged there re-
mained, leaving their visitors to go their way. The exhibitions of
violence in which the turbulence has culminated have been, the com-
missioners are convinced, simply those of Indian rowdyism.

Whether the northern Indians intend war, the commissioners cannot
say. They have not been able to find any indications of it, other than
those which have caused uneasiness in former years. If these northern