|
|
|
|
|
|
Palo Pinto County
Native American Data
PALO PINTO COUNTY
William J. Hale, 68, an early Texas Ranger who had several skirmishes with the Indians in the region now known as Palo Pinto County, gives an interesting account of paintings on a group of large cedar trees in that county. According to his statement, there was a place near Turkey Creek known as Painted Camp. The name was derived from the fact that hundreds of paintings adorned cedar trees in the vicinity. The trees ranged from eight to 24 inches in diameter and covered an area of about four acres. The painted trees were scattered among the others. The paintings were on the smooth inner bark, secured by peeling away the outer bark. They were four to five feet above the ground, and varied from four to 12 inches in length. In some cases the designs formed a band completely encircling the tree.
Hale says he saw the paintings many times in those early days; that they were in various bright colors—red and blue being most common; and that the designs were quite intricate. But the painted trees soon were cut.
(Source: "Picture Writing of Texas Indians" by A.T. Jackson, University of Texas Publication, March 1, 1938) - Transcribed by K. Torp)
The following is from the "Annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior for 1859", and the topic is "The Indians of Texas". The letters between the various officials tell an interesting tale of the Native Americans in Texas.
The Indians of Texas
Brazos Agency, Texas, March 2, 1859.
Sir:
Inclosed please find a communication from Mr. F. M. Harris, a citizen of Palo Pinto county, notifying me of the movements, &c, being made by the citizens of Palo Pinto, Erath, and Jack counties, against the Indians and whites of this reserve, which I forward for your information. The above statements are corroborated by Mr. Dillingham, of Jack county, and Mr. C. L. Carter, of Palo Pinto county, all reliable gentlemen. No doubt that the threat is based upon the knowledge of the citizens knowing that the troops have been removed from Belknap, and also that a portion of the warriors had left on the trail of the horses stolen from the reserve; but the majority of the Indians have since returned, who state that Captain Ford is not following the trail, but has gone direct to Major Van Dorn's camp. The Indians are peaceably at work at their different villages, and are not aware of the threats recently made, not deeming it advisable that they should know it, knowing at the same time, that, if they did break up and leave their villages, they would never return again to them. But should the demonstration be made, I shall notify them in time. I shall take immediate steps to notify Major Thomas, and make a requisition on him for assistance.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. P. ROSS, Special Agent Texas Indians.
R. S. Neighbors, Esq.,
Supervising Agent Texas Indians, San Antonio, Texas.
No. 114
Whatley's Store, Palo Pinto County, March 1, 1859.
Dear Captain: This will inform you, that, on my arrival at this place, Mr. Whatley informed me that there was an express passed this place for Jacksborough, from Stephensville. His mission was to raise men to attack the reserve. They say that the treaty that was made by the peace commissioners has been futile, and they do not intend to stand it any longer. They are raising men to drive the Indians and whites off the reservation; the 20th instant is the time set to make the spread. You, I presume, know your business. If you intend to have any soldiers at the reserve, I think it would be to your interest to get them as early as practicable. You know best. I presume you will act accordingly. I am satisfied, from what I have heard, that the reserve will be attacked, and that soon.
Respectfully yours,
F. M. HARRIS. S. P. Ross, Esq.,
Brazos Agency, Texas.
No. 115
Brazos Agency, Texas, March 5, 1859.
Sir: On the 2d instant, I inclosed you a letter received from Mr. Harris, informing you of the movements of certain citizens. On yesterday gentlemen arrived here confirming the reports, and giving the names of certain officials who had pledged themselves to render all the assistance necessary, as you will see per inclosed copy of a report which I made to his excellency the governor of the State, and forwarded him this morning per express, believing that he will render us all the assistance in his power to maintain this reserve. Should Major Thomas decline rendering us the assistance necessary to deter this lawless band, the Indians will be compelled to take to the prairies for the protection of their women and children.
Your presence is much needed, as it will require all the influence that can be brought to bear to reconcile the Indians. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S.P.ROSS,
Special Agent Texas Indians. Roberts. Neighbors, Esq.,
Supervising Agent Texas Indians, San Antonio.
No. 116 A.—(Copy.)
Brazos Agency, Texas, March 4, 1859.
Governor : It is with regret that I am compelled to send this express to inform you of the movements being fitted out by certain citizens of Erath, Jack, Palo Pinto, Comanche, and other counties, to attack the Indians now settled on this reserve under the treaty of August, 1855. For further information, I inclose a copy of a letter from Mr. F. M. Harris, a citizen of Palo Pinto county, which has been corroborated by several gentlemen of veracity living in Jack and Palo Pinto counties.
On the first intimation of the movements of those citizens, I dispatched one of the above gentlemen, and requested him to ride around and ascertain what facts he could. He returned to-day, and reported having seen and conversed with Judge Gormley, chief justice, Artemus Baker, county commissioner, Mr. Bailey, district clerk, H. A. Hamner, assessor and collector, and Mr. Babb, all residents of Jack county, who informed him privately and in secret that they, together with others of the above named counties, had pledged themselves to raise seven hundred and fifty or one thousand men, and furnish the means, if necessary; also, that they were to concentrate their forces at Jacksborough, Jack county, at Loving's store, and Golconda, Palo Pinto county, on the 20th instant, then to make a simultaneous attack on the reserve from three different points.
Upon the information of above, I this day dispatched an express to Major Thomas, commanding 2d cavalry at camp Cooper, with a requisition on him for at least one company of United States troops, in order to assist in - the protection of the lives and property of the Indians settled, guarantied them by the general government.
The general impression among those with whom I have conversed on this subject, is, that the citizens having learned that a number of the warriors belonging to this reserve had joined Captain Ford in pursuit of the depredators who lately committed depredations on this reserve and the citizens of this frontier, also the removal of the troops from Fort Belknap, no doubt thought it a proper time to make the attack; since which, a portion of the Indians returned, who report that the remainder had gone with Captain Ford to join Major Van Dorn's United States troops in an expedition against the Northern Comanches.
The Indians at this time are quietly settled down at their several villages, preparing their farms for the coming crop, and are not aware of the existing threats being made against them, believing that the course pursued by them since the murder of their people will meet the approval of all good citizens, and trusting that justice will be meted out to those who committed the murder. Under the circumstances, I deem it my duty, as their agent, to call a council of the chiefs on tomorrow morning, and inform them of the facts.
It is also believed that this move is made for the purpose of screening the parties who committed the late murder from justice, knowing that writs have been issued for the arrest of all concerned, and placed in the hands of the sheriff of Palo Pinto county.
By yesterday's mail I reported the facts to R. S. Neighbors, supervising agent; also inclosed him a copy of Mr. Harris's letter, for his information, and will also send him a copy of this report.
I have, therefore, thought it proper to notify you, as the executive of the State, that you may take such steps deemed necessary in the matter. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. P. ROSS
Special Agent Texas Indians.
His Excellency H. K. Runnels
Austin, Texas.
No. 117.
Department Of The Interior,
Office of Indian Affairs, March 30, 1859.
Sir : From the information communicated in your several reports, and otherwise obtained, it has become painfully manifest that the colonization of the Indians of Texas on the two reservations heretofore selected, must be discontinued, the reservations abandoned, the Indians removed where they can be protected from lawless violence, and effective measures adopted for their domestication and improvement. Measures for that purpose will, therefore, be adopted with as little delay as practicable.
The only place to which they can be removed and permanently located, is the section of country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, lying between the 98° and 100° of west longitude; but some preliminary arrangements must necessarily be made before their removal there can be commenced. The country is very much exposed, and the Comanches being now in a state of hostility, the movement must be preceded by the establishment of a military post at the proper point, with an adequate force for the protection of the Indians and the agent under whose control they are to be placed. It is expected that measures for that purpose will be immediately adopted by the War Department. At the same time, the superintendent for the southwestern superintendency will be instructed to select a proper site for the agency, and to proceed to erect the necessary buildings for the accommodation of the agent, Mr. Blain, who will be required to take post there as soon as it is safe for him to do so, and to proceed to make the necessary preliminary arrangements for receiving and properly locating the different tribes and bands that are to be placed there. With every effort that can be made, to be prepared for the purpose, it is not believed to be practicable to commence the removal of the Indians before fall or winter ; and it is hoped that they will be permitted to remain in peace and quiet, where they are, till then.
You will communicate to the authorities and people of Texas the fact that the Indians are to be removed, and that this is to be done as early in the fall or winter as it can be, and use your best exertions to induce them to refrain from molesting them. You will also inform the Indians, as soon as it may be judicious to do so, of what is contemplated in regard to them, and gradually prepare their minds for the change. Meanwhile, it is hoped they will be able to raise.an abundant crop, so as to have sufficient for subsistence in removing to their new location, and for some time after arriving there, and thus avoid a heavy expense to the government; for the measure must be conducted with the utmost economy, not only as a matter of obligation, but because of the very limited means at the disposal of the department for the purpose. In view of this fact, you will do all in your power to limit the expenditures for the Indians on the reservations, during the spring and summer, so as to husband as much of the existing appropriation as possible. To aid in concerting the best plan for relocating the Indians in the proper manner, you will please communicate to Superintendent Rector, as soon as practicable, the names and number of the different bands, which of them will agree best with each other and can be colonized together, and about what quantity of land will be required for actual use and occupancy by each division, together with any other information that will aid in forming a correct judgment as to the proper manner of locating them ; a copy of which you will also forward to this office. As soon as the department can be advised of the arrangements having been so far consummated as to admit of the commencement of operations, further and full instructions will be forwarded to you in relation thereto.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
CHARLES E. MIX,
Acting Commissioner. R. S. Neighbors, Esq.,
Supt. Indian Affairs, San Antonio, Texas.
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
No. 122.
San Antonio, Texas, May 12, 1859.
Sir : I much regret to be compelled to report that all of our efforts to pacify the frontier people, and to induce them to refrain from molesting the reserve Indians, prove abortive, and I have no hope left that will induce me to believe that they can be maintained in peace for any reasonable length of time. Immediately after the receipt of your letter of the 30th of March last, in relation to the removal, I forwarded copies to his excellency Governor Runnels, and had the same published in all the leading newspapers on the frontier. This appears only to have led to a change of tactics on the part of the leaders, and to more energetic endeavors to bring about hostilities between the parties. During the sitting of the district court of Palo Pinto county, in place of steps being taken to enforce the law against the murderers of the Indians, the grand jury found a true bill against one of the principal chiefs, (Jose Maria, chief of the An-ah-dah-koes,) for stealing a mule, and also presented the reserve as a nuisance. I suppose efforts will be made, under shadow of law, to enforce the arrest of the Indian. This course will necessarily bring on a conflict. It is well known by a number of our best citizens, that the mule taken belonged to a citizen of the reserve, and was legally taken by the Indian; the man Verney, who was before the grand jury, having no claim upon the property, but that the whole scheme was made use of by certain parties to bring about a difficulty. Numbers of our best citizens, amongst them Colonel M. T. Johnson, and almost every property holder anywhere in the vicinity of the reserves, have used every effort to put down these lawless proceedings, but have failed, and in several cases they have been threatened with violence. I inclose, for your information, the official report of S. P. Ross, Esq., 1st of May, and also a letter from E. J. Gurley, Esq., of Waco, on this subject, to which I would respectfully refer you. Notwithstanding that every appeal has been made to the executive of this State, he has thus far taken no measures to preserve order on the frontier, or to control the citizens. The consequence is that every county on that portion of the frontier is raising and arming a band of lawless men, who term themselves rangers, with the avowed intention of either forcibly breaking up the reserves, or murdering every Indian they meet, and I fully believe, from the threats, that they would also murder the agents, if they had an opportunity.
All these things, together with the unfavorable season, will render it impossible for the Indians to make a crop this spring, and, in my opinion, it would be folly for the general government to attempt to maintain the Indians on the present reserve until fall, or for a single day longer than necessary for them to pack up their goods and chattels. They cannot be kept on the reserve in peace, or in a state of organization, and it would require the whole appropriation to feed them and furnish ammunition for their defense until that time, besides a strong military force for their protection. I would, therefore, respectfully recommend and urge upon you the propriety of having the Indians at once removed across Red river, near Fort Arbuckle, until such time as they could have permanent locations selected for them. In addition to the reasons already given for this recommendation, I would urge the fact that they could be led now with much less expense at that point than at the reserves in Texas, as the troubles on the frontier, and the threatening attitude assumed by the lawless bands mentioned, will render it difficult to obtain a good supply at reasonable prices. I would the more strongly urge upon you this measure of removal at once, as I am certain that the Indians cannot be controlled or confined to their present narrow limits with the present threats against their lives ; and, unless prompt measures are taken, they will abandon the reserve and take the chances for self-defense and a subsistence. There are many other reasons that might be urged, but those given are deemed sufficient to induce you to act promptly in this matter. It is deemed that the funds estimated by me for the quarter ending 30th June, would be amply sufficient for the removal, if a proper use is made of the transportation now in the hands of the Indians, and it would require but a few days to furnish the necessary rations ; and I believe confidently that it would cost nearly as much to maintain the Indians on the reserve as it would to remove them to Arbuckle, the distance being only one hundred and sixty miles. I shall proceed at once to the reserves, and have no doubt but that the Indians will be highly delighted with an opportunity of leaving, and placing themselves out of danger from the lawless parties who are now threatening them.
May 13.—By last night's mail I have received the additional report, May 5, from Special Agent Ross, which I inclose. You will see that the reserve Indians are again assembled at the agency, for self-defense, and that the report, is that those on the upper reserve have already been attacked. There is, then, no other resource left but the course recommended by me, even if that can be accomplished. I will report from the reserve as soon as I arrive, and shall prepare the Indians for immediate removal as soon as the present excitement subsides. I hope you will give immediate instructions on this subject. I also inclose, for your information, an extract of a private letter from Captain John S. Ford, Texas rangers. He has expressed the same views to the governor, and yet no measures are taken to prevent the conflict.
I also inclose an extra, from the "Gazette" office, for your information, and also a petition from citizens, all for your consideration. Hoping you will give this whole subject your immediate attention, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ROBERT S. NEIGHBORS, Supervising Agent Texas Indians. Hon. Charles E. Mix,
Commissioner ad interim, Washington, D. C.
No. 123
Brazos Agency, Texas, May 1, 1859.
Sir : I have the honor herewith to transmit this my monthly report (with the accompanying papers) of the state of affairs of this agency for the month ending 31st April, 1859.
The past month has been one of continued excitement among the Indians belonging to this reserve, caused by the frequent forays of Comanches, and the threatened attack upon the reserve by citizens. 'The citizens of the different surrounding counties are kept in constant excitement and hostility by the speeches made by Captain Baylor and others, and by constant rumors of the outrages and depredations said to be committed by the reserve Indians.
I had hoped that, after it was made known that the government intended to move the Indians from Texas as soon as practicable, that it would quiet the minds of the people, and would stop the mouths of those who have labored so assiduously to break up the reserves; but it seems that in this I am to be disappointed, for only a few days since they held a meeting in Golconda, where Baylor and others, as I am credibly informed, made speeches and used very threatening language against the agents and Indians. I also hear that he is now prowling around the reserve with a body of armed men with the avowed object of taking scalps.
I refer you to the accompanying report of the farmer, as to the condition of the farms, the prospects of making a crop, &c.; and also to the school teacher's, as to the condition of the school.
It may be proper to here mention that no indictments were found (as I have been informed) against Garland and others, who murdered the Indians in Palo Pinto county. At the last term of their district court they found a true bill against Jose Maria, chief of the Anahdahkoes, for stealing a mule.
During the past month, about fifty Indians from this reserve have joined Major Van Dorn as guides, and five have gone to act as guides to Captain Bracket, with the promise from me that their women and children should be protected in their absence. All of which is respectfully submitted.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. P. BOSS, Special Agent Texas Indians. Robert S. Neighbors, Esq.,
Supervising Agent Texas Indians, San Antonio.
April 25, 1859. Gentlemen : Your course and conduct for the last eighteen months having utterly failed to give satisfaction to the citizens of the frontier of Texas, and for the reason that the opinion prevails generally in all the frontier counties that you have acted in bad faith to the Indian and white man, and having been disappointed in the long cherished hope that you would be removed from office, but, on the contrary, having learned that you have lately been reappointed, we take this our only method to make known to you our unqualified disapprobation of your course as agents, and to demand your immediate resignation.
F. W. Fauntleroy, John Taylor, F. L. Denison, Lewis P. Strong, W. S. Carpenter, J. R. Waller, J. N. Stanley, J. F. Pollard,
W. W. Cochran, Jno. R. Baylor, W. H. Cowdon, J. P. Davidson, Wesley Nelson, F. B. Powers, Fuller Millsaps, Allen Brooks,
J. W. Estes, Wm. G. Martin, Wm. Niel, A. F. Turnban, R. Y. Powers, Reuben Vaughan, J. D. Neel, James M. Bell, Charley Turnblain, Washington Halburn, E. F. Spencer, Hiram Barber, Riley Hubbard, M. Rolston, J. L. McCracken, A. J. Stephens,
M. V. P. Easterwault, J. A. McLaren, E. H. Fireash, A. C. Bingham, John Foille, B. F. Harris,B. B. Meadows, J. W. F. Stow,
Levi Ford, James Roberts, J. S. Whitmore, Joel Counts, C. Vernoy, James Jeffreys, W. W. McNeill, John Danisly, B. F. Mullins,
A. Lane, J. W. Price, W. M. Peters, W. J. F. Lundy, A. Nelson, J. C. McClure, Benj. Harris, Wyatt Williams, J. G. Belile, Saml. Orford, John Funderburgh, J. C. Carpenter, jr., John Hillson, William R. McGlothlin, N. V. Hillinsgrann, Cornelius McGlothlin,
T. J. Simons, J. Stephens, Saml. F. Stone, Wm. McGlothlin, J. L. Davis, G. R. Jowell, John N. Ganney, Samuel Fruit, J. B. Harris,
O. W. Neel, A. J. Steward, E. T. Jeffery, Levi Current, W. J. Councill, Robert Martin, J. W. Lynn, J. W. Burket, G. W. Greer, Squire Robson, P. S. Jones, J. C. Blair, W. L. Lasater, Oliver Loving, T. J. Lindsey, M. Maris, Wm. B. Ewbank, J. B. Bradley, George Lemons, G. W. Derasett, John Bloker, L. P. Bise, Joseph Smith, W. G. Roberds, L. J. Chamberlain, H. H. McLean, A. Russel, J. B. Pollard, N. M. Morris, G. T. Condon, P. M. Crouch, R. W. Pollard, J. P. Brown, J. J. Cureton, Wm. N. Blare, J. N. Walker, J. E. Harrington, S. Branan, G. P. Barber, G. W. Slaughter, M. B. Loch, G. Porter, Wm. S. Evans, R. S. Porter, L. B. J. Clayton, E. H. McRae, J. C. Carpenter, J. Wright, J. H. Baker, E. W. Coffelt, Samuel P. Woodward, Nathan Blackwell, James A. Pody, L. C. Barton.
Messrs. R. S. Neighbour, Supervising Agent Texas Indians;
S. P. Ross, Special Agent, Brazos Agency; and Leeper, Special Agent, Comanche Agency.
Department Of The Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, May 28, 1859.
Sir : I have the honor to submit, for your consideration, copies of instructions given on the 30th of March, to Superintendents Rector and Neighbors, in relation to the removal of the reserve Indians in Texas to the tract of country leased of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and also of a report and accompanying papers just received from Mr. Neighbors respecting the critical and unsafe condition of the Indians on the reservations in Texas.
It was hoped that when the instructions to Messrs. Rector and Neighbors became known in Texas, the excitement respecting the removal of the Indians would be quieted, and that they could peacefully remain on the reservations until fall, giving time for them to raise another crop, and for the government to make the necessary arrangements for removing them safely and economically, and establishing them in a proper locality in the country where it is designed to place them; but, from Superintendent Neighbors' report, it would seem that this reasonable expectation is not to be realized; that certain lawless persons are determined to persist in their outrages upon the Indians ; that the latter are consequently in an unsafe position; will not be able to continue their agricultural operations and raise another crop ; and if they remain upon the reservations, will have, therefore, to be subsisted. Under these circumstances, Mr. Neighbors recommends their immediate removal north of Red river, to the vicinity of Fort Arbuckle, where he states they can be subsisted as cheaply as on the reservations in Texas.
There are two objections to the removal of these Indians to the point recommended by Mr. Neighbors: First, it would be an infraction of our treaty obligations to the Choctaws and Chickasaws ; and second, it would be only a temporary arrangement, as they would soon have to be again removed, and taken to their place of final destination in the Leased District of country, thus incurring the trouble and expense of a double removal, instead of but one. Under the circumstances, however, I am disposed to recommend their immediate, removal to the leased country, provided it will be in the power of the War Department to furnish a military force to protect their persons and property from attack and plunder by lawless white persons on the route, and to station a sufficient force in the Leased District to keep them under proper subjection and control, and protect them and their agent, and other government employees, from molestation by such lawless persons and the hostile Comanches.
Prior to coming to any final decision on the subject, I would therefore respectfully suggest that an inquiry be made of the War Department as to its ability and willingness to furnish such force ; and particularly what progress has been made towards the establishment and garrisoning of the new post near the Wichita mountains, to enable this department to carry out its policy of colonizing certain tribes in the leased portion of the Choctaw and Chickasaw country. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. B. GREENWOOD,
Hon. J. Thompson,
Secretary of the Interior.
Commissioner.
No. 131.
Department Of The Interior,
June 9, 1859.
Sir: Herewith is inclosed, for your information, a copy of a letter addressed to this department on the 7th instant, by the acting Secretary of War, from which it will be seen that orders are to be sent to the commander of the department of Texas to furnish an escort to the Indians now on the reservations in Texas, as requested in your letter of the 28th ultimo.
It would be proper, under the circumstances,that detailed instructions should be immediately sent to Superintendents Neighbors and Rector, for their guidance.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. THOMPSON, Secretary.
Hon. A. B. Greenwood,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
No. 132 a.—(Copy.)
War Department, June 7, 1859.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th ultimo, asking an escort for the Indians about to be removed from the Texas reservations.
The commanding officer of the military department of Texas will receive immediate instructions to furnish the necessary escort, and to protect the Indians after their arrival in the Wichita country while the troops remain there.
The subject of establishing a post in that vicinity is now under consideration, and you will be advised as soon as a decision is reached. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. R. DRINKARD,
Acting Secretary of War. Hon. J. Thompson,
Secretary of the Interior.
Brazos Agency, Texas, June 10, 1859.
Sir : I have the honor to report, that since the date of my last, transmitting a copy of Captain Plummer's official report in relation to the attack on this reservation, no movement of the Baylor and Nelson party has been made calculated to endanger the Indians on either reserve.
On the third instant, Lieutenants Eagle and Crosby, second cavalry, arrived here from Major Van Dorn's camp, with eighty men. On the 5th we received intelligence that a portion of the citizens, numbering about five hundred men, had started for the camp fifteen miles from here, to attack the Comanche reserve.
I proceeded with Lieutenant Eagle and sixty cavalry to that point, but found that it was merely a feint made to enable them to scatter for fear of an attack from the cavalry. On my arrival at Comanche agency, I learned that two additional companies of cavalry had arrived at that point, which gave us ample force to defend the reserves against the lawless mob, even if they had reached the number anticipated, viz., one thousand men.
That whole party appears now to have disbanded, after stealing a number of horses on the reserve and from the citizens immediately around it, waylaying the roads, stopping travelers, robbing wagons, and stopping the mails for about five trips, with the avowed intention of reorganizing within ten days, or as soon thereafter as an opportunity offers to make another attack with a probability of success, or, as is said by some of our good citizens, as soon as the troops now assembled on the reservations leave for their stations. The troops that are now here only consider themselves authorized to defend the Indians in case of attack within the limits of the reserves; but consider that they have no authority to go outside, into the disaffected district, even for the purpose of gaining correct information. We have consequently to rely principally upon the Indians themselves, who have been sent out as spies, and upon a few citizens who have volunteered to give us information, for all the intelligence that we could receive in relation to the movements of this party of marauders.
The State government, as yet, have taken no action, as far as I can learn, and the citizens here who own property, have been so seriously threatened by the mob, both in life and property, that they are afraid to testify in a court of justice against the offenders. (I make this statement upon the authority of Parson Tackitt, the Methodist circuit preacher for this district.) At my solicitation, United States Commissioner Chesley Dobbs, Esq., has taken the affidavits of the United States officers here, and is still engaged in taking evidence to forward to the United States district attorney, so as to endeavor to bring the leaders in this foray on the reserve Indians, and the murderers of the old Caddo Indian and Indian woman mentioned in Captain Plummer's report, before the courts of the country.
It is unfortunate at this time that we have in the State of Texas a governor who appears to be afraid to enforce the laws of the State, to arrest criminals, or to endeavor to put down a mob, although it is apparent that almost every property holder, or those who may be classed as good and responsible citizens, are not in any way engaged in this foray, and do not sympathize with it, and, if sustained by the executive of the State, would, in a very short time, arrest this band of lawless marauders. They acknowledged, in the town of Belknap, after the attack on the reserve on the 23d, that there were about fifty horse-thieves and notorious desperadoes in their party.
It is truly unfortunate for the Indians that the general government, upon my suggestions, after the demonstrations in March last, did not either remove the Indians across the Red river, or make some provision for their defense. As it is, they have in this last foray lost a large portion of the remnant of property, stock, &c., left at that date, have received no redress, made no crops, and are in every way ten times worse off than they would have been if they had taken to the prairies and subsisted themselves. They have, owing to the presence of the force which threatened them for the last five weeks, been compelled to abandon every comfort, shut themselves up in their fortified camp with two companies of troops, with such shelter as could be temporarily provided. The consequence was, that on my arrival here on the 2d instant, I found many sick, with three or four deaths per day, and the whole camp, both Indians and whites, seriously threatened with an epidemic.
With the assistance and counsel of the officers stationed here, we have been compelled to send the Indians out to camp near pure water, in an exposed situation, laying themselves liable to an attack at any moment from the small scouting parties of these marauders, who are reported to be prowling around the reservation.
The reserves may be considered virtually broken up; all work is suspended. The Indians will not even cultivate their small gardens, and the agents can do nothing more than to keep the Indians in something like a state of organization, ready for removal to a place of safety.
I had a talk with the chiefs yesterday; they will urge no serious objection to an immediate removal to a place of safety, although they think themselves badly treated.
I shall make no new suggestions. I have conversed freely with the military officers, both at this and Comanche reserve. They are unanimous in the opinion that the Indians should be at once placed across Red river, so that they can be protected in their lives until the general government can relocate them permanently, and provide them a home in which they can live and become a civilized people.
The Indians, one and all, are still under good control, and express full confidence that the general government will do them justice, and protect them in this unequal contest.
With the same belief, and hoping, if you have not already done so, you will direct the immediate removal of all the Indians on the reserves east of Red river, so that they may avoid another demonstration such as the one now passed, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ROBERT S. NEIGHBORS, Superintendent Indian Affairs, Texas.
Hon. A. B. Greenwood,
Commissioner Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C.
No. 134.
Department Of The Interior, Office Indian Affairs, June 11, 1859.
Sir: Under the instructions sent you on the 30th of last March, you were directed to communicate to the authorities and people of Texas the fact that the Indians were to be removed from the reserves upon which they are now located as early in the fall or winter as it could be done, and to use your best exertions to induce them to refrain from molesting them. The department entertained the hope that the Indians would be permitted to remain in quiet and peace where they are till then, and would be able to raise an abundant crop, so as to have sufficient for their subsistence in removing to their new location, and for some time after arriving there. Your report of 12th ultimo, however, in which you state, that on account of the hostility evinced by the whites against the Indians, the latter could not any longer remain in safety and peace upon the reserves, nor cultivate their lands and raise the desired crop, has influenced this department to modify its instructions bearing date as aforesaid, and you are now authorized to take measures forthwith for the removal of the Indians to the section of country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and lying between the 98° and 100° of west longitude, provided the same necessity should exist at the date of the reception of these instructions that existed at the date of your communication to this office. The Secretary of War has been requested to furnish a strong military escort for your protection, and this department has been officially informed that " the commanding officer of the military department of Texas will receive immediate instructions to furnish the necessary escort, and to protect the Indians after their arrival in the Wichita country, while the troops remain there." You will therefore, on receipt of this communication, proceed at once to arrange and pack everything movable belonging to the two reserves and to the Indians; collect the latter into one body, and make everything ready to start them as soon as the military shall arrive. You are authorized to take Agent Leeper along ' with you as your aid. Agent Ross, if his services are not urgently required for the removal of the Indians, is to remain with the employees upon the reserves, to guard and take care of everything of an immovable character belonging to the government until it can be finally disposed of. You are required to make an inventory of everything belonging to the government or the Indians, which is to be taken along from the reserves on your journey, with the valuation of each item annexed. You are further required to make an inventory of everything belonging to the government and which you leave behind you on the reserves, with a valuation of each item.
If, of anything not required, or not capable of removal, you can make a sale before your departure, either to the military authorities stationed in your neighborhood, or to private individuals, on advantageous terms, you are authorized to do so; reporting to this department each item thus sold, to whom sold, and the amount received. This whole transaction being placed under your control, you will exercise a sound discretion as to its details, observing the strictest economy compatible with the best interests of the public service.
On your arrival at the Wichita agency you will meet either Superintendent E. Rector, or an agent deputed by him for the purpose, to either of whom you are directed to transfer the Indians, till then, under your control. You are then, conjointly with Superintendent Rector, or his deputy, to proceed to the selection of locations suitable for Indian settlements, establish the different bands thereon, having in view their present comfort and their future advancement in the arts of civilization, report, as early as practicable, the results attained, and wait for further orders from this office.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. B. GREENWOOD,
Commissioner. R. S. Neighbors, Esq.,
Supt. Ind. Affairs, Comanche Agency, Texas.
P. S. Since the foregoing was prepared, yours of the 27th has been received. Nothing contained therein to change the above instructions.
No. 135.
Department Of The Interior, Office Indian Affairs, June 15, 1859.
Sir: Referring to the communication of this office of March 30th, requiring you to make such an examination of the country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws as would enable you to determine upon the proper places for locating and colonizing the Texas Indians, and containing a copy of the instructions to Superintendent R. S. Neighbors, in relation to the removal of the said Texas Indians early next fall or winter, I have now to state that the report of Superintendent Neighbors, of May 12, a copy of which herewith, has influenced this Department to modify its instructions to Superintendent Neighbors, who has been directed, under date of June 11, a copy herewith, to proceed forthwith with the removal of the Texas Indians to the Wichita agency, under a strong escort of United States troops for his protection, provided the same necessity should exist at the reception of the modified instructions that existed on the 12th of May last.
In consequence of the premises, you are directed, on receipt of this letter, to proceed without delay to the Wichita agency, or, if unable to do so, to empower Agent Blain to accept the transfer of the Texas Indians from Superintendent Neighbors, and, conjointly with him, to make selection of localities suitable for Indian settlements, which should be situate as near to the agency as circumstances will admit, bringing the Indians under the immediate supervision and control of the agent.
The Secretary of the Interior having directed that the selection of locations, and the establishment of the Indians thereon, should be done conjointly by Superintendent Neighbors and yourself, or your deputy, it is hoped that those duties will be performed with zeal and in perfect harmony, having nothing else in view than the interests of the government and the welfare of the Indians.
Superintendent Neighbors having been authorized to take along Agent Leeper, as his aid, you arc authorized to make use of his services in the location of the Texas Indians, and he is to remain with Superintendent Neighbors until further orders from this office.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. B. GREENWOOD,
Commissioner.
Elias Rector, Esq.,
Fort Smith, Arkansas.
No. 136.
Fort Arbuckle, June 15, 1859.
Sir: Having come from Fort Smith to Fort Washita, and there turned over to Douglas H. Cooper, Esq., agent for the Choctaws and Chickasaws, the moneys in my hands for those tribes, I have thought it advisable to extend my journey, in order to look in person into the condition and inquire as to the wishes of the bands of the Wichitas and Caddoes now encamped on Caddo creek, eighteen miles from this post; which I have done.
I find that the contract for feeding these Indians has been, in all respects, faithfully complied with. They are peaceable and obedient, but of course doing nothing whatever, having come in temporarily, as you are aware, through fear of the Comanches. I found them exceedingly anxious to go to their permanent home in the Wichita country, that their lands there should be assigned them, and they be enabled to begin providing for their future subsistence. I have fully explained to them my instructions in that behalf, and the views of the government ; and have told them that, until a military post should be established in their new country, they were not required to remove thither, nor had I any authority or wish to compel them to do so ; but that if it was their desire, they were at liberty to go, and I would advise them to do it, and that I should proceed to select the lands to be occupied by them.
They still desire to remove; and the lawless acts of violence of certain persons in Texas render it, in my opinion and that of the superintendent of Texas Indians, highly expedient for those Comanches and others known as the Reserve Indians in Texas, to be also removed to the country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, as soon as practicable. The acts of violence in question, the excitement in that part of Texas against those Indians, and the determination of a part of the people to expel or exterminate them, make it useless to await their making a crop before removal, since it is apparent that they will not be allowed to make such crop.
By my instructions from your office, the removal of all these Indians is made contingent upon the establishment of a military post in the country to be occupied by them, which has been so long and often urged upon the Department of War, is imperatively required by the exigencies of the public service, and still unaccountably delayed.
Major Emory, commanding at this post, has sometime since explored that country, and indicated to the War Department a proper site for a post; but I am not advised what action, if any, has been had upon his report.
I had expected, also, to have received instructions from your office, induced by the unexpected events and acts of violence that have occurred in Texas, but, as yet, I am in receipt of none.
I have, after anxious consideration of existing circumstances, determined that I may with propriety proceed to the leased country with a small party and an escort, and select the tracts of country to be occupied by the Wichitas and Caddoes, now encamped in this vicinity, and the several bands of the reserve Texas Indians; and to that end, Major Emory furnishing an escort, I shall proceed to that country on Saturday next, the 18th instant, and shall remain there long enough to make a sufficient exploration.
In selecting the locations, I shall have due regard to the site for a post selected by Major Emory, and to the security of the Indians by means of that post.
Even if it did not seem to be entirely uncertain whether the War Department will establish any post at all in that country, and, if so, at what remote period, still I think it not only advisable, but eminently just and merciful to afford these Indians the means of defense and self-protection. Those now here are armed with bows and arrows and spears alone. I earnestly advise that each warrior be at once furnished with a rifle and a moderate supply of ammunition, which are equally indispensable with the implements of agriculture in my possession to be delivered to them. Besides, their intended country abounds with game, and they will be thus enabled, in great measure, to feed themselves, and to lessen the expenses of their subsistence. I understand that many, perhaps most of the Texas Indians, are also unarmed; and I therefore submit to your better judgment the propriety of immediately placing me in possession of two hundred and fifty rifles, with six pounds of powder and ten of lead for each, for distribution.
A proper number of the leading men of the Wichitas and Caddoes will accompany me, and I shall, as far as it may consist with my judgment, consult their wishes in regard to the location of the country to be occupied by them.
I have sent, by express to Major Neighbors, superintendent of the Texas Indians, a communication requesting him to meet me at this place on my return. I shall then confer fully with him, and inform him of the result of my expedition; and should nothing then come to my knowledge to change my present convictions, I shall advise the immediate removal of the reserve Indians, as I now do that of the Wichitas and Caddoes, encamped here, to their new country. The Chickasaws desire that these latter should remove, and, I presume, have the right to insist upon it; and the sooner all these Indians are gathered together upon lands of the United States, where they will be secure from violence and outrage, prompted by cupidity and self-interest, the better.
Should the order for their removal be given, I have to ask that explicit instructions may be given me in regard to the amount of subsistence to be afforded them, and the time of its continuance. It will be indispensable to aid them in that respect until their crops mature next year, and to supply them in proper time with the proper agricultural assistance in the way of seed, and with competent persons to instruct them in farming. Major Neighbors thinks that those now with the reserve Indians should be continued, and in that opinion I concur.
On my return I shall make, as instructed, to your office a detailed report; and I have only to add, that I trust that the Department of the Interior will strenuously urge upon the attention of the War Department the great necessity for the immediate establishment of a post in the Wichita hills, which I supposed, from personal conference with the Secretary of War, had long ago been finally determined on.
I have the honor to be, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant,
ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, S. S.
Hon. A. B. Greenwood,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C.
Elias Rector, Esq.,
Superintendent Indian Affairs, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Fort Arbuckle, Chickasaw Country, July 2, 1859.
Sir: On the 18th of June last, as I had advised your office I should do, I proceeded to visit and explore the country lying in the vicinity of the Wichita mountains. Major Emory, commanding at this post, furnished me a cavalry escort of fourteen men, under Lieutenant Stanley, and I was also accompanied by Mr. Quesenbury, of Arkansas, as my clerk and assistant—my regular clerk having been taken sick at this post, and being unable to go further—and by one other assistant, with Mr. Samuel A. Blain, agent for the Wichitas, and I-sad-o-wa, the chief, and A-wa-he, the war chief of the Wichitas, Fai-o-tun, chief of the Caddoes, also employed by me as a guide, the head-man of the Kichais, Se-ket-tu-ma-qua, Delaware interpreter, with other Delawares, and Chim-ma-sha, employed by me as Caddo interpreter. Three gentlemen desiring to visit the same country also accompanied me. A single wagon furnished the transportation of my own party.
On the 22d, we reached the site indicated for a fort by Major Emory, being that of the old Wichita village, on the Clear Fork of Cache creek, south of the Blue mountain, a principal peak of the Wichita range, and immediately below the volcanic hills that lie along the south side of that range. After exploring the country in that direction, to the base of the Blue mountain, and obtaining sketches of the mountains and the water courses to northeast, east, and south, from the summit of one of the subordinate hills, near the site of the old village, and becoming satisfied, for reasons to be hereafter stated, that the country near and around those mountains was unfit for the purposes contemplated by the department, I proceeded to a low range of hills northeast of the Blue mountain, and about forty miles from it, near the sources of the Little Washita, at the head of a small tributary of the Fausse Ouachita, and about twelve miles from that river. Thence I proceeded to the river itself, and explored a portion of the country on each side, returned to the hills last mentioned, and by the way of the Little Ouachita, to this post, which I reached on the 30th ultimo.
The result of my examination is, that the ninety-eighth parallel of longitude is, in a direct line, forty-three miles west of this post, beyond the waters of the Wild Horse and Rush creeks, and the Cross Timbers; so that, west of that parallel, there are no streams with arable valleys of any considerable extent running into the Washita or Red river, in the whole country leased from the Choctaws and Chickasaws, except those in the immediate vicinity of the Wichita mountains, west of the ninety-eighth parallel. The country consists, in the main, of a prairie composed of hills and undulations of sandstone, the soil of which is not at all fertile, interspersed with extensive belts and ridges covered with dwarfed oaks, with a few creeks flowing in channels cut deep in the red earth of the prairie, and rising in the rainy season from ten to forty feet. Along these creeks are narrow lines of timber, mostly Cottonwood, with a few gnarled and stunted oaks.
It is to be regretted that the country in question contains so little land of any value except for grazing purposes, and so very little timber of any worth. It is understood, I believe, that the ninety-eighth parallel is much further to the westward than was supposed when the treaty of 1855 with the Choctaws and Chickasaws was made. It would have been far better if the United States had procured the cession of all the Choctaw and Chickasaw country between the Fausse Ouachita and Red river, since it is of little value to those tribes, is almost wholly unused by them, and will be absolutely needed, if many more Indians are to be settled and colonized in the leased country.
So far as the Wichita mountains are concerned, and the country in and adjacent to them, I regret to say that all my expectations were disappointed, and that my ideas, founded on the reports and glowing representations of others, proved to be totally and astonishingly incorrect. The mountains consist of a range of rugged hills, the highest probably one thousand feet above the general level of surrounding prairie, running east and west some twenty-five or thirty miles, with lower and chiefly hemispherical hills and some ridges on the north and south. The mountains themselves, from the report of Mr. Quesenbury and others of my party, who went to their base for that purpose, are granitic, with ample evidence of upheaval; and the outlying hills are partly, at least, composed of igneous or metamorphic rock. I am myself wholly ignorant of geological science; but, from his report, and that of other gentlemen who accompanied me, and from specimens obtained from them of the rocks composing the hills and mountains, it is evident, I am assured, that they were elevated by volcanic action, confined to a limited area. On the flanks of the space thus elevated, red sandstone occurs, and at greater distance the magnesian limestone, whilst, about twenty miles to the northeast, an immense area is composed of pure white gypsum, or sulphate of lime, rising in high ridges of dazzling whiteness, and depressed into valleys, in which the streams have cut through this deposit to a depth in places of twenty to forty feet. These small streams, impregnated with this unpleasant mineral, flow into Cache creek.
To the south of the mountains, two streams flow off to Red river— Otter creek and Cache creek; the former at the western, and the latter at the eastern extremity of the mountains. I am assured, by those thoroughly acquainted with the country south of the mountains, that between these two is no stream whatever, and that on Otter creek there is no land of any value. Cache creek is composed of a great number of branches draining a vast extent of prairie, most of which rise far to the east and northeast of the mountains, and, flowing round in a half circle, unite about fifteen miles north of east of the Blue mountain, and wholly outside of the hills, with the principal branch that comes from the prairie north of the hills flowing first east and then south. Just below this junction, the banks of the creek, of deep red earth, are forty feet in height above the water, and in rainy seasons it rises, as the mark evidently shows, to the very top of the bank. From this point, the stream runs somewhat west of south, and just below the old Wichita village receives, on the west side, a small, clear stream called Clear creek, that rises among the hills at the base of the mountains, several miles above. Below the junction of this branch, the whole bottom of the creek is subject to inundation, the water annually covering it to the depth of many feet, and becoming deeper the nearer you approach Red river; so that the lands on all that part of the creek to the southward of the mountains is worthless for the purposes of cultivation.
The outlying hills are chiefly bald, or entirely naked of timber. The Blue mountain, and some other of the points of the mountains, are thinly covered with a scattering growth of stunted oaks, while the rest are bald like the hills. I shall transmit from Fort Smith, on my return there, sketches of the mountains and water-courses, taken from different points, by Mr. Quesenbury, which will give a correct idea of their contour and appearance.
On the west of Clear creek, upon a high level of prairie, on the north and east of which that branch sweeps in a semicircle, is the site of the Wichita village, and the locality indicated by Major Emory for a military post. Of its advantages in a military point of view, I am not competent to judge ; but in other respects, and as a situation for an agency, it is subject to serious and, I think, insuperable objections. On the west, northwest, and south of it is a wide slough, or channel, through which, at every freshet, a heavy body of water runs, leaving Clear creek above the site and entering it again below ; after which remain shallow ponds, to be gradually dried up by evaporation, producing an abundant supply of miasma, to be conveyed by the south winds, continually prevalent in the hot season, to those who may be unfortunate enough to inhabit the island (for such it is) above. To an agency unprotected by a military post, the facility with which an enemy could approach unperceived on three sides, would be a serious disadvantage ; but, apart from that, the malaria from the slough and from the overflown bottom to the southward, known to have more than decimated the Wichitas while they resided there, forms an insuperable objection to the location of an agency at that point.
The sketches which I shall transmit from Fort Smith, on my return to that place, will show not only the profile and appearance of the mountains, but the course of Clear creek, and that of Cache creek and its affluents on the northeast, east, and southeast of the mountains, and will, I hope, with the brief description which I have given, be found to afford a sufficiently clear idea of the part of the country in question.
On the branch of Cache creek which comes from the east,and about fifteen miles to the northward of east of the Blue mountain, between four small streams flowing into it perpendicularly from the east, are these bodies of level alluvium and washings from the prairie, of tolerably fertile soil; but there is no timber, except a narrow fringe along the edges of the streams, of cottonwood, with a few gnarled oaks. Some three miles below is a limited extent of bottom, with some walnut timber ; but I do not think even this part of the creek a suitable location for any people who are to subsist by agriculture ; and above this point are no available lands of any extent, and very little timber.
West of the mountains, and north of them until you reach the Fausse Ouachita, there is no inhabitable country. No streams flow off to the northward or westward.
There are no springs to be found in this region. I suppose that the nature of the formation, upheaved and contorted, forbids it. I was led to suppose there were springs at the old village, but, on reaching the place where they had been, at the foot of a steep bank of Clear creek, they were found to be there no longer. The earth and gravel had slid down and obliterated them.
In short, to my extreme surprise and disappointment, I found these mountains to be rugged and frowning masses of primitive, metamorphic, and igneous rock, with barren hills of upheaval around them, all naked, or scantily clothed with stunted trees. The fertile and beautiful valleys of which I had heard, the clear streams flowing through them, and the gushing springs, have no existence. The streams that flow past this barren and desolate region are prairie streams of impure water, discolored with red earth and impregnated with lime, except Clear creek, which has no valley of arable or grazing land, and, except as a hunting ground, I consider the whole region to be utterly worthless, and unsuitable for human habitancy. This is not only my deliberate judgment, but that of all who accompanied me; the expectations of all of whom were as grievously disappointed as mine were.
In corroboration of these conclusions, I beg leave to refer you to the report of Lieutenant Stanley of the result of his observation of the country in question, which has been or will be forwarded to the War Department, and to which the intelligence and practical knowledge of that officer must give great weight.
Finding myself thus compelled to the conclusion that another locality must be looked for, since this is wholly unfit for the purposes intended, and that the War Department, when fully advised, will certainly not select, as a position for a military post, the site of the old Wichita village, or any point in its vicinity, I had to turn either to the main or little Fausse Ouachita, and accordingly proceeded to the former.
From the sandstone hills before mentioned, about forty miles northeast of the Blue mountain, and in the country to the northward, a number of small streams, draining the prairie, with barren ridges between, thickly covered with stunted oaks, uniting together, flow northward to the Fausse Ouachita, which is about twelve miles in that direction from those hills. A mile or two further to the westward, is another similar system of drainage, terminating in another small stream. The most easterly of these systems, at its lower end, opens out into an open valley of moderate width, covered with rich grass and in places with large trees. Here was the old Kichai village; and a little way below, the valley debouches into that of the Fausse Ouachita, extending above and below some eight or ten miles, bounded on the south by a range of low barren hills, the lower half about one and a half miles in width, and round the upper half, the hills retreating still further back and forming almost a semicircle, enclosing between them and the river a broad level plain from two to two and a half miles in width, a large part of it of great fertility, and covered with the thickest and finest grass. The most westerly valley, towards its mouth, is wide and fertile, and covered with a thick growth of timber. My guides informed me that above this river valley are three others on the south side of the river, after which there are no more.
Crossing this alluvial plain, passing through a body of timber some bundled yards in width, I reached and forded the river, here of a deep red color, about three feet in depth and thirty yards in width, and emerged from a similar belt of timber, on the north side, into another wide and level alluvial plain, round which, on the north and east, ran Sugar Tree creek from the northwest, flowing into the river below. This plain, between the creek and river, some two and a half miles in width in its widest part, is bounded by a high ridge on the west that runs sloping to the river. The soil of the plain is light and sandy, that along the creek probably far superior to that near the river. Further up in the hills are sugar maple trees, from which the creek takes its name. Here, on this creek and plain, the Delawares and Caddoes—now encamped near here with and as part of the Wichita tribe—had told me, before we commenced the journey from Fort Arbuckle, they desired to settle. The Wichitas and Kichais desired to settle in a similar small valley on the south side of the Canadian, about twenty miles to the northward. I have consented to these locations.
I have selected as the site for the Wichita agency that of the old Kichai village, on the south side of the river, near the mouth of the valley already mentioned ; and there I propose to erect the permanent agency-house and out-buildings, as soon as I can close a contract for the same on reasonable terms, and in the meantime to erect a cheap, temporary cabin for the agent, to be afterwards used as a kitchen or other out-building, and a shed to protect from the weather the goods and articles in my hands to be furnished the Wichitas and affiliated bands; and the Texas Indians, I propose to place on the south side of the river, above and below the agency, allowing them to select the site for their respective towns, unless the Shawnees, Delawares, and the Caddoes among them desire to settle with, as they should do, the Delawares and Caddoes now here, on the north side of the river, and the Huecos and Ta-wa-ca-nos, who speak the same language as the Wichitas, with that people and the Kichais, on the Canadian; in which case, the wish of each should of course govern.
Of the country on the Canadian selected by the Wichitas and Kichais, I obtained accurate information from Se-kit-tu-ma-qua, my Delaware interpreter, who is thoroughly acquainted with it, and I therefore did not deem it necessary to examine it in person. The Wichitas and Kichais all desire to settle there; and as they have resided in this region from a time beyond any one's memory, and have a better claim to it than any other tribe, they ought, I think, to have the privilege of selecting their home. Moreover, I desired, before coming to a final conclusion, to see the country on the Little Washita, west of the ninety-eighth parallel, which had been mentioned to me, and accordingly I returned by the way of the upper waters of that creek, but found no country there, beyond the ninety-eighth parallel, comparable to that on the main river.
On my return to this post, on the 30th ultimo, I found Major Neighbors, superintendent of Indian affairs for Texas, who had arrived earlier on the same day from the Texas reservations, with the head men of the Comanches, Huecos, Tonka-hnas, Ta-wa-ca-ros, Caddoes, and An-ah-dah-kos, there settled; and I at the same time received your instructions of 15th June, and furnished him with a copy of those addressed to him of 11th June, not known to him until his arrival here. The same condition of affairs in Texas, and the same imperative necessity for the immediate removal of all the Texas reserve Indians, continued to exist when he left the reserves, five days before, as when his previous advices were transmitted to your office ; and the necessity had indeed become more urgent. Your office was merely just, in taking it for granted that, actuated solely by a sincere desire to do all in our power for the interests of the unfortunate people under our respective charge, we should heartily cooperate with zeal and harmony. No admonition to that effect was needed.
After being fully informed by myself and Lieutenant Stanley, commander of the escort, Mr. Blain, and the other gentlemen who accompanied me, of the character of the several portions of the country explored by us, with which also some of the head men with him are familiar, Mr. Neighbors has entirely concurred with me in regard to the fitness of the place selected by me whereon to locate such of the Indians under his charge as may not readily affiliate with those now in my superintendency, and will proceed, at the end of three days from this time, to the reserves in Texas, and immediately carry out your instructions, by forthwith removing all the Indians there, with their cattle, horses, and all other moveable property, to the site selected for an agency, and there proceed to select the locations for the several bands.
After Mr. Neighbors and myself had fully conferred together, the head men of all the bands, of those here and of those in Texas, met in council, and were informed by him and myself of the selections which had been made for their future homes. We explained to them the great pain and regret felt by the government at being compelled so hastily to remove those in Texas to another country; but assured them that they would be paid for all losses thus incurred, and that, after removal, they would occupy a country belonging to the United States, and not within any State, where none could intrude upon them; and they would remain, they and their children, as long as the waters should run, protected from all harm by the United States. We advised them to become acquainted with each other, and to prepare to live near each other as friends and neighbors, and promised to use every effort in our power to see justice done them. To the Wichitas we also promised to endeavor to obtain remuneration for their losses incurred in consequence of the hostility of the Comanches, provoked by the slaying of so many of their people, encamped with peaceable intentions, by the troops of the United States, and the consumption of their corn by the troops.
The Indians declared themselves entirely satisfied with the country selected for them, well known to many of them, and ready to remove at once.
The Indians now encamped near here are preparing to remove, and will be ready to do so in fifteen, or, at furthest, twenty days from this time ; by which time, also, those from Texas will be on the road, and the implements and goods purchased for the Wichitas will have arrived here from Fort Smith. In their forced abandonment of their homes on Rush creek, these Indians lost many of their horses, and most of them are wholly unable to remove themselves, as your office has suggested they might do. I shall, therefore, be compelled to furnish them five wagons and teams for that purpose. This transportation will be sufficient; but, embarrassed as I am by want of express authority, and the very little discretion vested in me, I do not feel that I can, in justice to myself, and without taking more responsibility than I care to incur, furnish more.
It is the settled opinion of Mr. Neighbors and myself, that, beyond all possible doubt, it will be found wholly impracticable, for many years to come, to assign to any of these Indians distinct parcels of land, by metes and bounds, in severalty for each family, and to confine their right of occupancy and possession to only so much land as shall be thus covered by individual reservation. They need far more land for grazing than for cultivation. They are not prepared to become land-owners and individual proprietors of the soil. They are, and will long be, far in the rear of that point. If that system is tried, the whole plan of colonization will prove a disastrous and melancholy failure. In a few months the reserves would be abandoned. It has always been the habit of most of them to live in towns, each staking off and cultivating a portion of one common tract, contained in a single inclosure. It has been found necessary to adopt this system on the Texas reserves.
It was the system of the Mexican Pueblos; and there can, it is certain beyond all peradventure, be no other pursued with profit in the case of any of these Indians.
Each band, to make the present experiment, in which the good faith and honor of the United States are so much concerned, successful, must be put in exclusive possession of a much larger tract of country than is needed for cultivation, and, when part of it has been inclosed, be left to subdivide that part among themselves each year, as the needs of each may require. This is always done among themselves equitably and justly. We have proceeded upon these principles in selecting the country to be occupied by these bands, and earnestly hope that our views and action may be approved by you and the Secretary of the Interior. The plan of assigning to each head of a family his forty or eighty acre lot, to be his own, would not succeed for a day or an hour.
As to the country around the Wichita mountains, it ought to be reserved as common hunting grounds, for which alone nearly the whole of it is fitted.
I shall furnish the Indians that will move from this vicinity with twenty days' rations upon their departure; and shall cause them, and those who shall have removed from Texas, to be supplied with rations for forty days longer, after their arrival in their new country, by the present contractor, and at the present price of thirteen cents per ration of beef, corn, or flour, and salt.
As it will be absolutely necessary to provide subsistence for all until their crops are made next year, a contract for that purpose must be speedily concluded. No one, I am satisfied, can afford to furnish, or will furnish, the rations at a price less than that now paid; and to receive proposals after public advertisement would probably result in the payment of a higher instead of a lower price. In such cases, combinations are almost always formed, by which exorbitant prices are secured; persons disposed to make lower bids being bought off. The government, under this system, last year, paid for corn furnished a quartermaster on the Arkansas frontier just twice the price for which the contractor purchased it within seven miles of the place of delivery; and I should not be surprised, if, giving this contract out to the lowest bidder, the rations should cost the government over fifteen cents each. At the reserves in Texas the rations cost ten cents, each; at Camp Radziminski beef is furnished at twelve and a half cents per pound, and the corn ration, of a pint and a half, at six cents. To the troops that lately marched from Fort Smith to the Antelope hills, the beef rations on foot were furnished along the road at eight cents a pound; and, until within the last four or five months, the beef ration alone at this post was furnished at twelve and a half cents a pound, (or only half cent less than pay for the whole ration of a pound of beet, a pint and a half of corn, and one twenty-fifth of a quart of salt,) by the same individual, who represented that he would have taken the contract to feed the Wichitas at ten cents a ration of beef, corn, and salt.
If, therefore, no representations had been made to your office in regard to the existing contract, I should unhesitatingly continue and extend it at the present price, which I can effect, notwithstanding the increased distance and cost of delivery. As it is, I do so for a limited time only. Submitting the whole matter to you, and asking such explicit and positive instructions on this point as shall leave me no discretion, and relieve me of all responsibility.
The Indians now in Texas having, most of them, at least, erected dwelling-houses for themselves, which they must abandon, the most ordinary justice requires that the government should erect others for them in their new country, in the stead of those abandoned. It being the intention of Mr. Neighbors to turn over all these Indians to me so soon as they arrive at the Fausse Ouachita, and also to turn over to your office, and recommend to be placed in my hands for disbursement, with the same ample and necessary discretion as is possessed by him, all the moneys remaining in his hands, or appropriated to be expended by him, he will not undertake to have these buildings erected.
We have promised the chiefs to recommend their immediate erection; and I would submit to your better judgment that the most economical and judicious course will be to authorize the immediate employment by me of a competent and active person, with at least twelve hands under him at reasonable and fair compensation, to proceed to the country selected, and erect houses or cabins of moderate cost, in place of each of which those Indians will have been dispossessed. Houses of rather a better kind should be put up for the chiefs, and for the principal persons also among the Wichitas, Kichais, and Caddoes, now here.
If the Indian Bureau chooses to authorize me to do so, I can effect a contract, without advertising, for the erection of the agency buildings at a very moderate and reasonable price. These buildings should certainly be erected before the cold season commences; and I shall be glad to be advised whether I shall effect a private contract, or receive proposals and let out the work to the highest bidder; in which case, it may very well chance to be badly done, unless a constant supervision is maintained during its progress, if not, even then, since, when the amount of the bid governs, the good faith and honesty of the person can have no influence in the selection.
The grounds to be cultivated ought to be broken up this fall, or the government will have to feed these Indians till the year 1861. The Texas Indians have a sufficient number of work-oxen; but the Wichitas, Kichais, and Caddoes, in this vicinity have none. It will be necessary to purchase for them twenty yoke of oxen in time to break up their grounds; and it will also be necessary to employ, for all the Indians, at least ten industrious and intelligent farmers, who will be expected themselves to labor, and by example, as well as precept, to teach the Indians how to maintain themselves by agriculture; and I ask authority to employ so many of such persons as may be needed, in addition to those in Texas now with the Indians, so as to make ten in all.
It will be necessary, at once, to establish a blacksmith's shop at the agency, with a blacksmith and assistant striker, and to furnish it with tools and with a sufficient supply of iron and steel.
I renew my recommendation that the warriors not already armed with rifles, be so armed, in order that they maybe enabled, not only to protect themselves against hostile and marauding Indians, but that they may have the benefit of the game with which the country abounds.
To arm them well is to make them self-reliant; without which quality, all attempts to civilize them will prove unavailing.
They should also be encouraged to lay aside their Indian clothing and adopt the order of the whites. To lead them to this, a limited supply of clothing ought to be furnished them; for which I hope provision may be speedily made.
A single trading-house ought to be permitted to be established near the agency. Not more than one is needed, or should be allowed.
It should be required to exhibit all its invoices to the superintendent and agent, who should establish a fair tariff of prices, allowing a reasonable profit per centum; and they should also fix, from time to time, the prices to be paid to the Indians for all articles purchased from them.
The success of this experiment, will, to a very great extent, depend upon the energy, industry, fidelity, and judgment of the agent or agents under whose immediate charge these Indians are placed. I shall use every exertion in my power to induce the punctual and efficient discharge of all the duties that that office imposes, and shall not see in silence any want of energy or neglect of duty. With proper management, the experiment will succeed. If either judgment, or energy, or active industry is wanting, it will inevitably fail.
If it succeeds, all the roving bands of the Comanches and other prairie tribes, will soon be induced to adopt a settled life, and exchange the chase for agriculture and the raising of stock The war with the Comanches is wholly unnecessary, if that can be called a war, which consists almost exclusively in pursuing, surprising, and slaying Indians when in their camps with their wives and children. I am satisfied that if the government now acts generously and judiciously towards these Indians already colonized, it will find no difficulty in pacifying the hostile bands, to pursue and exterminate which will be found a much more costly operation than to civilize and for a limited time feed them ; and I again urge the appointment of a commission to treat with the hostile Comanches, to explain to them how by mistake it chanced that they were attacked when encamped for peaceful purposes under a guarantee of protection, and to induce them to settle with their brethren in the country selected for and assigned to them.
If it should be your pleasure to continue Agent Leeper permanently in charge of the Comanches, it will be necessary to select a site for an agency for him, and to erect the necessary buildings. I have no means of judging as to the necessity of two agents more or other than those possessed by yourself.
The War Department will, I trust, on application from the Secretary of the Interior, instruct the commanding officer at this post to lend myself and the agent or agents of these Indians whatever assistance we may ask in enforcing in the leased country the laws of the United States and the regulations of your office.
It occurs to me to add only this : that in providing for, and vigilantly geeing to the peace and welfare of these different bands of Indians, it will be necessary to maintain, by all proper means, the power and influence of the chiefs, on whom alone we can rely to carry into full effect the humane desires of the United States. We must conciliate them by suitable marks of distinction, that shall give them importance and consequence in the eyes of their people, and satisfy them with themselves. In these and many other matters that may actually arise, and cannot be dealt with at a distance, but must be met and provided for or against on the instant, if little is left to the superintendent's discretion, no confidence reposed in his judgment or honesty, and he hampered and fettered by instructions and restrictions and limitations, which impede and hinder efficient and prompt action, the purposes of the government will not be effected, and its scheme of colonizing these Indians will fail, unless he assumes a responsibility that may be made to ruin him. I shall not be willing to assume such responsibility, and therefore ask and trust, that if your office and the Department of the Interior are satisfied with the mode in which I have exercised other powers, where much if not all was left to my discretion, I may be invested with the same latitude of discretion in regard to all matters that concern these Indians, as has been vested in and exercised by Mr. Neighbors, as supervising agent and superintendent for Texas. If the confidence is reposed in me, I have every hope that the humane and beneficent intentions of the government will be carried into effect.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ELIAS RECTOR, Superintendent Indian Affairs.
Hon. A. B. Greenwood,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
[Note: There is much more to this publication, but it tends to wander from the original focus of Palo Pinto county Native Americans. For further reading, the publication is available on googlebooks. "Annual report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior for 1859", Washington, George W. Bowman printer, 1860 -- and the particular topic is "The Indians of Texas".]
Submitted by K. Torp
Back to the Main
Index Page
©Genealogy Trails
