Form 168

THE WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY
INCORPORATED

25,000 OFFICES IN AMERICA.

CABLE SERVICE TO ALL THE WORLD

This Company TRANSMITS and DELIVERS messages only on conditions limiting its liability, which have been assestted to by the sender of the following message.
Errors can be guarded against only by repeating a message back to the sending station for comparison, and the Company will not hold itself liable for errors or delays in

transmission or delivery of Unrepeated Messages, beyond the amount of tolls paid thereon, nor in any case where the claim is not presented in writing within sixty days after the message is filed with the Company for transmission,
This is an UNREPEATED MESSAGE, and is delivered by request of the sender, under the conditions named above.

ROBERT C. CLOWRY, PRESIDENT

BELVIDERE BROOKS, GENERAL MANAGER

RECEIVED AT 3946 MARKET ST.

PHONE PRESTON 2226.

93P- JN 33

3 EX

705PM

Carlisle Pa Mar 31st-11

Genl R P Pratt,

A 9 - 6 Alexandria Apts.

42nd & Chester Ave.,

The Alumni association of the Carlisle Indian School in Grateful

appreciation for the great work in indian education originated by you
send greetings and wish you health and long life.

Standing Bear, Sanook, Denny Committee

COPY

Telegram

Carlisle, Pa., Mar. 31, 1911.

Gen. R. H. Pratt,
Philadelphia.

The Alumni Association of the Carlisle Indian School in grateful appreciation
for the great work in Indian education originated by you, send greetings and wish
you health and long life.

Standing Bear,

Sanook,

Denny Committee.

Philadelphia, 3/31/11

Standing Bear )
Sanook )
Denny. )

Alumni Com.,
Indian School,
Carlisle, Pa.

I am deeply touched by your gracious message. My earnest expectation is
that the great excellence of past achievement by the Carlisle Alumni will be far
higher advanced until the beacon of it removes every obstacle to widest training for
independent useful citizenship for all Indian youth.

Your old school Father,

R. H. PRATT.

Carlisle, Pa., Jan. 5, 1901.

Major R. H. Pratt,

Carlisle, Pa.

Sir:-

In addition to my report already furnished, I submit here-
with information as to matters that came under my observation in the
course of my journey which may be of some interest to you, some of
which, however, are of a confidential nature, and so far as they re-
late to other persons would like to have them so regarded.

In the matter of transfer of Sallie Santiago to Grenada,
Mississippi, I found that Col. Randlett had not been informed of the
transfer and was not pleased with it. Mr. Methvin is of the opinion
that he talked with Col. Randlett about it but Col. Randlett has no
recollection of the fact and thinks Mr. Methvin honestly mistaken.
He does not regard it as a matter of special importance but did not
have knowledge of the transfer.

In all the southern part of the territory, there is great
excitement at the opening of the Kiowa and Komanche reservations
and a tremendous influx of people on the borders waiting for the
time to come. In the town of Chickasha with no title to the land,
street frontage on the business street is worth about $100 per foot,
and a capitalist was there who was going right ahead and putting up
a one hundred room hotel. Business of all kinds is on the boom.
I was told also that the Rock Island Road running from Chickasha up
the Ashita to Mangum, Texas, was the most paying piece of railroad
on the Rock Island System. In regard to taking allotments, I was
told that the Kiowas were more backward than the Comanches and that
the Caddos and Wichitas were quite non-progressive. In regard to
allotments on the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reservation, I was surprised
to find so many on the comparatively sandy knolls along the Canadian
River which are not now and never will be of much value, but was told
in regard to this that five or six hundred allotments were made by
allotting agents without examination of the land. I found also that
some of the young people absent at school fared badly. For instance,
Julia Bent, by her father's selection was allotted land right on the

Maj. R. H. Pratt, -2-

Canadian River of which upwards of thirty acres has since been washed away completely, the balance being worthless. Her husband, Noble Prentice, by the selection of his uncle has become possessed of a stony point, entirely unfit for agriculture. Benajah Miles told me that his was a very inferior claim, although he was working it and this year put 15 acres in corn, 20 in oats and about 30 in Kaffir Corn. He said that the absentees generally fared poorly. Those members of the family who were present getting the best land, and as all the land was allotted, they have no remedy. It would seem only wise and just that in future cases there should be a small quantity reserved to meet any such cases.

Much of the land has hitherto been rented for grazing lands only, and is therefore unimproved. The policy of Major Stouch is by whatever means he can to get the land broken up and made productive. The Indians so far as I came across them were all much more interested in renting their lands than cultivating them. Richard Davis has I think five quarter-sections, but all his farming appeared to be about 20 acres of corn. Cleaver Warden was looked upon as a very bright fellow, aspiring to political prominence among his people and therefore lets his hair grow and eats mescal. Kish Hawkins who works in a trader's store at Darlington, doing well and living well, says that he despairs of any positive change with the Indians so long as there are any rations or any annuity coming to them; he thinks the best plan would be for the Government to make absolute settlement as quickly as possible.

At the Ponca Agency I found a capable and energetic agent in charge but that practically the same condition of renting the land existed as among the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, and learned that such was also the case with the Otoes and Pawnees, all of these tribes being comparatively wealthy and able to subsist without much personal labor. They frequent the towns, spend their money in advance and borrow money on chattel mortgages.

The young man in charge at Otoe Agency as Swpt. and Sub-Agent, Mr. Herbert Johnson, impressed me as being a very clear headed and capable fellow, and had his matters well in hand. The Agent

Major R. H. Pratt, -5-

I think it would be well also to have some application blanks for admission to Carlisle placed with the different Agents of school Superintendents, so that individual applications could be made at any time.

From the population of the tribes as now given, it seems that there has been a decrease of nearly or quite one half in the full blood Indians within the last twenty years, or else previous estimates have been very inaccurate. The Commissioner's report for 1880 placing the Cheyennes and Arapahoes at 2132 Arapahoes and 5767 Cheyennes, while the report for 1899 gives Arapahoes 976, Cheyennes 2071; a decrease of just half. This condition with the increased school accommodations explains the general situation in regard to pupils.

Dictated (M)