Part 11

The Cherokees originally inhabited sections of country now embraced within the State of Georgia and portions of the States of Tennessee and North Carolina, and moved to their present location under the provisions of the treaties concluded with them in 1817 and 1835. They have their own written language, their national constitution and laws, their churches, schools, and academies, their judges and courts. They are emphatically an agricultural and stock-raising people, and perhaps of all the Indian tribes, great and small, are first in general intelligence, in the acquisition of wealth, in the knowledge of the useful arts, and in social and moral progress. The evidences of a real and substantial advancement in these respects are too clear to be questioned; and it is the more remarkable from the fact, that, but a few years since, they were, as a people, almost ruined by the ravages of civil war. Their dwellings consist of 500 frame-houses, and 3,500 log-houses. Of the principal crops, they have raised during the year 2,925,000 bushels of corn, 97,500 bushels of wheat, about the same quantity of oats, and 80,000 bushels of potatoes. Their stock consists of 16,000 horses, 75,000 cattle, 160,000 hogs, and 9,000 sheep. The individual wealth is estimated at $4,995,000.

By the latest reports, they had sixty schools in successful operation, all, with the exception of one managed by the Moravians, maintained out of the national school-fund, and having in attendance 2,133 scholars. Three of these schools are for the education of the freedmen living in the country. The orphans of the Cherokees have been heretofore provided for in private families, by means of the interest derived from certain funds invested for that purpose; but during the past year an orphan asylum has been established under an act of the National Council, where are now gathered fifty-four of this class. This school is designed ultimately to embrace in its operations all the orphans of the nation.

The Cherokees have no treaty-funds paid to them or expended for their benefit. They have, however, United-States and State bonds held in trust for them by the Secretary of the Interior, to the amount of $1,633,627.39; also a recognized claim on account of abstracted State bonds to the amount of $83,000, on which the interest is appropriated annually by Congress, making in all $1,716,627.39. This sum is divided under the following heads, viz., national fund, $1,008,285.07; school fund, $532,407.01; orphan fund, $175,935.31. The interest on these several sums is paid to the treasurer of the Cherokee nation, to be used under the direction of the National Council for the objects indicated by said heads.

_Choctaws and Chickasaws._--These tribes are for certain national purposes confederated. The Choctaws, numbering 16,000, an increase of 1,000 on the enumeration for 1871, have a reservation of 6,688,000 acres in the south-eastern part of the Territory; and the Chickasaws, numbering 6,000, own a tract containing 4,377,600 acres adjoining the Choctaws on the west. These tribes originally inhabited the section of country now embraced within the State of Mississippi, and were removed to their present location in accordance with the terms of the treaties concluded with them, respectively, in 1820 and 1832. The remarks made respecting the language, laws, educational advantages, industrial pursuits, and advancement in the arts and customs of civilized life, of the Cherokees, will apply in the main to the Choctaws and Chickasaws. The Choctaws have 36 schools in operation, with an attendance of 819 scholars; the Chickasaws 11, with 379 scholars. The Choctaws, under the treaties of Nov. 16, 1805, Oct. 18, 1820, Jan. 20, 1825, and June 22, 1855, receive permanent annuities as follows: in money, $3,000; for support of government, education, and other beneficial purposes, $25,512.89; for support of light-horsemen, $600; and for iron and steel, $320. They also have United-States and State stocks, held in trust for them by the Secretary of the Interior, to the amount of $506,427.20, divided as follows: on account of "Choctaw general fund," $454,000; of "Choctaw school-fund," $52,427.20. The interest on these funds, and the annuities, &c., are turned over to the treasurer of the nation, and expended under the direction of the National Council in the manner and for the objects indicated in each case. The Chickasaws, under act of Feb. 25, 1799, and treaty of April 28, 1866, have a permanent annuity of $3,000. They also have United-States and State stocks, held in trust for them by the Secretary of the Interior, to the amount of $1,185,947.03-2/3; $183,947.03-2/3 thereof being a "national fund," and $2,000 a fund for "incompetents." The interest on these sums, and the item of $3,000 first referred to, are paid over to the treasurer of the nation, and disbursed by him, under the direction of the National Council, and for such objects as that body may determine.

_Creeks._--The Creeks came originally from Alabama and Georgia. They numbered at the latest date of enumeration 12,295, and have a reservation of 3,215,495 acres in the eastern and central part of the Territory. They are not generally so far advanced as the Cherokees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, but are making rapid progress, and will doubtless, in a few years, rank in all respects with their neighbors, the three tribes just named. The Creeks, by the latest reports, have 33 schools in operation; one of which is under the management of the Methodist Mission Society, and another supported by the Presbyterians. The number of scholars in all the schools is 760. These Indians have, under treaties of Aug. 7, 1790, June 16, 1802, Jan. 24, 1826, Aug. 7, 1856, and June 14, 1866, permanent annuities and interest on moneys uninvested as follows: in money, $68,258.40; for pay of blacksmiths and assistants, wagon-maker, wheelwright, iron and steel, $3,250; for assistance in agricultural operations, $2,000; and for education, $1,000. The Secretary of the Interior holds in trust for certain members of the tribe, known as "orphans," United-States and State bonds to the amount of $76,999.66, the interest on which sum is paid to those of said orphans who are alive, and to the representatives of those who have deceased.

_Seminoles._--The Seminoles, numbering 2,398, an increase of 190 over the census of 1871, have a reservation of 200,000 acres adjoining the Creeks on the west. This tribe formerly inhabited the section of country now embraced in the State of Florida. Some of them removed to their present location under the provisions of the treaties of 1832 and 1833. The remainder of the tribe, instigated by the former chief, Osceola, repudiated the treaties, refused to remove, and soon after commenced depredating upon the whites. In 1835 these depredations resulted in war, which continued seven years, with immense cost of blood and treasure. The Indians were at last rendered powerless to do further injury, and, after efforts repeated through several years, were finally, with the exception of a few who fled to the everglades, removed to a reservation in the now Indian Territory. In 1866 they ceded to the United States, by treaty, the reservation then owned by them, and purchased the tract they at present occupy. They are not so far advanced in the arts of civilized life as the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks, but are making rapid progress in that direction, and will, it is confidently believed, soon rank with the tribes named. They cultivate 7,600 acres; upon which they raised during the past year 300,000 bushels of corn, and 6,000 bushels of potatoes. They live in log-houses, and own large stocks of cattle, horses, and hogs. The schools of the Seminoles number 4, with an attendance of 169 scholars.

They receive, under treaties made with them Aug. 7, 1856, and March 21, 1866, annuities, &c., as follows: interest on $500,000, amounting to $25,000 annually, which is paid to them as annuity; interest on $50,000, amounting to $2,500 annually, for support of schools; and $1,000, the interest on $20,000, for the support of their government.

_Senecas and Shawnees._--The Senecas, numbering 214, and the Shawnees, numbering 90, at the present time, removed, some thirty-five or forty years ago, from Ohio to their present location in the north-eastern corner of the Territory. They suffered severely during the rebellion, being obliged to leave their homes and fly to the North, their country being devastated by troops of both armies. Under the provisions of the treaty of 1867, made with these and other tribes, the Senecas, who were then confederated with the Shawnees, dissolved their connection with that tribe, sold to the United States their half of the reservation owned by them in common with the Shawnees, and connected themselves with those Senecas who then owned a separate reservation. The Shawnees now have a reservation of 24,960 acres, and the united Senecas one of 44,000 acres. These tribes are engaged in agriculture to a considerable extent. They are peaceable and industrious. Many are thrifty farmers, and in comfortable circumstances. They have one school in operation, with an attendance of 36 scholars, which includes some children of the Wyandots, which tribe has no schools.

_Quapaws._--These Indians number at the present time about 240. They are native to the country, and occupy a reservation of 104,000 acres in the extreme north-east corner of the Territory. They do not appear to have advanced much within the past few years. In common with other tribes in that section, they suffered greatly by the late war, and were rendered very destitute. Their proximity to the border towns of Kansas, and the facilities thereby afforded for obtaining whiskey, have tended to retard their progress; but there has recently been manifested a strong desire for improvement; and with the funds derived from the sale of a part of their lands, and with the proposed opening of a school among them, better things are hoped for in the future.

_Ottawas._--The Ottawas of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Boeuf number, at the present time, 150. They were originally located in Western Ohio and Southern Michigan, and were removed, in accordance with the terms of the treaty concluded with them in 1831, to a reservation within the present limits of Kansas. Under the treaty of 1867 they obtained a reservation of 24,960 acres, lying immediately north of the western portion of the Shawnee reservation. They have paid considerable attention to education, are well advanced in civilization, and many of them are industrious and prosperous farmers. They have one school, attended by 52 scholars. The relation of this small band to the government is somewhat anomalous, inasmuch as, agreeably to provisions contained in the treaties of 1862 and 1867, they have become citizens of the United States, and yet reside in the Indian Country, possess a reservation there, and maintain a purely tribal organization. They removed from Franklin Co., Kan., in 1870.

_Peorias, &c._--The Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, and Piankeshaws, who were confederated in 1854, and at that time had a total population of 259, now number 160. They occupy a reservation of 72,000 acres, adjoining the Quapaw reservation on the south and west. Under treaties made with these tribes in 1832, they removed to a tract within the present limits of Kansas, where they remained until after the treaty of 1867 was concluded with them, in which treaty provision was made whereby they obtained their present reservation. These Indians are generally intelligent, well advanced in civilization, and, to judge from the statistical reports of their agent, are very successful in their agricultural operations, raising crops ample for their own support. With the Peorias are about 40 Miamies from Kansas. They have one school in operation, with an attendance of 29 scholars.

_Wyandots._--The Wyandots number at the present time 222 souls. Ten years ago there were 435. They occupy a reservation of 20,000 acres, lying between the Seneca and Shawnee reservations. This tribe was located for many years in North-western Ohio, whence they removed, pursuant to the terms of the treaty made with them in 1842, to a reservation within the present limits of Kansas. By the treaty made with them in 1867, their present reservation was set apart for those members of the tribe who desired to maintain their tribal organization, instead of becoming citizens, as provided in the treaty of 1855. They are poor, and, having no annuities and but little force of character, are making slight progress in industry or civilization. They have been lately joined by members of the tribe, who, under the treaty, accepted citizenship. These, desiring to resume their relations with their people, have been again adopted into the tribe.

_Pottawatomies._--These Indians, who formerly resided in Michigan and Indiana, whence they removed to Kansas, before going down into the Indian Territory numbered about 1,600. They have, under the provisions of the treaty of 1861 made with the tribe, then residing in Kansas, become citizens of the United States. By the terms of said treaty they received allotments of land, and their proportion of the tribal funds, with the exception of their share of certain non-paying State stocks, amounting to sixty-seven thousand dollars, held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for the Pottawatomies. Having disposed of their lands, they removed to the Indian Territory, where a reservation thirty miles square, adjoining the Seminole reservation on the west, had been, by the treaty of 1867, provided for such as should elect to maintain their tribal organization. It having been decided, however, by the department, that, as they had all become citizens, there was consequently no part of the tribe remaining which could lay claim, under treaty stipulations, to the reservation in the Indian Territory, legislation was had by Congress at its last session--act approved May 23, 1872--by which these citizen Pottawatomies were allowed allotments of land within the tract originally assigned for their use as a tribe, to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each head of family and to each other person twenty-one years of age, and of eighty acres to each minor. Most if not all of them are capable of taking care of themselves; and many of them are well-educated, intelligent, and thrifty farmers.

_Absentee Shawnees._--These Indians, numbering six hundred and sixty-three, separated about thirty years ago from the main tribe, then located in Kansas, and settled in the Indian Territory, principally within the limits of the thirty miles square tract heretofore referred to in the remarks relative to the Pottawatomies, where they engaged in farming, and have since supported themselves without assistance from the government.

_Sacs and Foxes._--The Sacs and Foxes of the Mississippi number at the present time 463. In 1846 they numbered 2,478. They have a reservation of 483,840 acres, adjoining the Creeks on the west, and between the North Fork of the Canadian and the Red Fork of the Arkansas Rivers. They formerly occupied large tracts of country in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri, whence they removed, by virtue of treaty stipulations, to a reservation within the present limits of Kansas. By the terms of the treaties of 1859 and 1868, all their lands in Kansas were ceded to the United States, and they were given in lieu thereof their present reservation. These Indians, once famous for their prowess in war, have not, for some years, made any marked improvement upon their former condition. Still they have accomplished a little, under highly adverse circumstances and influences, in the way of opening small farms and in building houses, and are beginning to show some regard for their women by relieving them of the burdens and labors heretofore required of them. There is hope of their further improvement, although they are still but one degree removed from the Blanket or Breech-Clout Indians. They have one school in operation, with an attendance of only about twelve scholars. 317 members of these tribes, after their removal to Kansas, returned to Iowa, where they were permitted to remain, and are now, under the act of March 2, 1867, receiving their share of the tribal funds. They have purchased 419 acres of land in Tama County, part of which they are cultivating. They are not much disposed to work, however, on lands of their own, preferring to labor for the white farmers in their vicinity, and are still much given to roving and hunting.

_Osages._--The Osages, numbering 3,956, are native to the general sections of country where they now live. Their reservation is bounded on the north by the south line of Kansas, east by the ninety-sixth degree of west longitude, and south and west by the Arkansas River, and contains approximately 1,760,000 acres. They still follow the chase, the buffalo being their main dependence for food. Their wealth consists in horses (of which they own not less than 12,000) and in cattle.

_Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches._--These tribes, confederated under present treaty stipulations, formerly ranged over an extensive country lying between the Rio Grande and the Red River. As nearly as can be ascertained, they number as follows: Kiowas, 1,930; Comanches, 3,180; and Apaches, 380. They are now located upon a reservation secured to them by treaty made in 1867, comprising 3,549,440 acres in the south-western part of the Indian Territory, west of and adjoining the Chickasaw country. Wild and intractable, these Indians, even the best of them, have given small signs of improvement in the arts of life; and, substantially, the whole dealing of the government with them, thus far, has been in the way of supplying their necessities for food and clothing, with a view to keeping them upon their reservation, and preventing their raiding into Texas, with the citizens of which State they were for many years before their present establishment on terms of mutual hatred and injury. Some individuals and bands have remained quiet and peaceable upon their reservation, evincing a disposition to learn the arts of life, to engage in agriculture, and to have their children instructed in letters. To these every inducement is being held out to take up land, and actively commence tilling it. Thus far they have under cultivation but 100 acres, which have produced the past year a good crop of corn and potatoes. The wealth of these tribes consists in horses and mules, of which they own to the number, as reported by their agent, of 16,500, a great proportion of the animals notoriously having been stolen in Texas.

However, it may be said, in a word, of these Indians, that their civilization must follow their submission to the government, and that the first necessity in respect to them is a wholesome example, which shall inspire fear and command obedience. So long as four-fifths of these tribes take turns at raiding into Texas, openly and boastfully bringing back scalps and spoils to their reservation, efforts to inspire very high ideas of social and industrial life among the communities of which the raiders form so large a part will presumably result in failure.

_Arapahoes and Cheyennes of the South._--These tribes are native to the section of country now inhabited by them. The Arapahoes number at the present time 1,500, and the Cheyennes 2,000. By the treaty of 1867, made with these Indians, a large reservation was provided for them, bounded on the north by Kansas, on the east by the Arkansas River, and on the south and west by the Red Fork of the Arkansas. They have, however, persisted in a refusal to locate on this reservation; and another tract, containing 4,011,500 acres, north of and adjoining the Kiowa and Comanche reservation, was set apart for them by Executive order of Aug. 10, 1869. By act of May 29, 1872, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to negotiate with these Indians for the relinquishment of their claim to the lands ceded to them by the said treaty, and to give them in lieu thereof a "sufficient and permanent location" upon lands ceded to the United States by the Creeks and Seminoles in treaties made with them in 1866. Negotiations to the end proposed were duly entered into with these tribes unitedly; but, in the course of such negotiations, it has become the view of this Office that the tribes should no longer be associated in the occupation of a reservation. The Arapahoes are manifesting an increasing disinclination to follow further the fortunes of the Cheyennes, and crave a location of their own. Inasmuch as the conduct of the Arapahoes is uniformly good, and their disposition to make industrial improvement very decided, it is thought that they should now be separated from the more turbulent Cheyennes, and given a place where they may carry out their better intentions without interruption and without the access of influences tending to draw their young men away to folly and mischief. With this view a contract, made subject to the action of Congress, was entered into between the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the delegation of the Arapaho tribe which visited Washington during the present season (the delegation being fully empowered thereto by the tribe), by which the Arapahoes relinquish all their interest in the reservation granted them by the treaty of 1867, in consideration of the grant of a reservation between the North Fork of the Canadian River and the Red Fork of the Arkansas River, and extending from a point ten miles east of the ninety-eighth to near the ninety-ninth meridian of west longitude. Should this adjustment of the question, so far as the Arapahoes are concerned, meet the approval of Congress, separate negotiations will be entered into with the Cheyennes, with a view to obtaining their relinquishment of the reservation of 1867, and their location on some vacant tract within the same general section of the Indian Territory.

A considerable number of the Arapahoes are already engaged in agriculture, though at a disadvantage; and, when the question of their reservation shall have been settled, it is confidently believed that substantially the whole body of this tribe will turn their attention to the cultivation of the soil. Two schools are conducted for their benefit at the agency, having an attendance of thirty-five scholars. Of the Cheyennes confederated with the Arapahoes, the reports are less favorable as to progress made in industry, or disposition to improve their condition. Until 1867 both these tribes, in common with the Kiowas and Comanches, were engaged in hostilities against the white settlers in Western Kansas; but since the treaty made with them in that year they have, with the exception of one small band of the Cheyennes, remained friendly, and have committed no depredations.

_Wichitas, &c._--The Wichitas and other affiliated bands of Keechies, Wacoes, Towoccaroes, Caddoes, Ionies, and Delawares, number 1,250, divided approximately as follows: Wichitas, 299; Keechies, 126; Wacoes, 140; Towoccaroes, 127; Caddoes, 392; Ionies, 85; Delawares, 81. These Indians, fragments of once important tribes originally belonging in Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, and the Indian Territory, were all, excepting the Wichitas and Delawares, removed by the government from Texas, in 1859, to the "leased district," then belonging to the Choctaws and Chickasaws, where they have since resided, at a point on the Washita River near old Fort Cobb. They have no treaty relations with the government; nor have they any defined reservation. They have always, or at least for many years, been friendly to the whites, although in close and constant contact with the Kiowas and Comanches. A few of them, chiefly Caddoes and Delawares, are engaged in agriculture, and are disposed to be industrious. Of the other Indians at this agency, some cultivate small patches in corn and vegetables, the work being done mainly by women; but the most are content to live upon the government. The Caddoes rank among the best Indians of the continent, and set an example to the other bands affiliated with them worthy of being more generally followed than it is. In physique, and in the virtues of chastity, temperance, and industry, they are the equals of many white communities.