The frame of a grist mill, erected before I came here, is still standing in good repair, and, I believe, could be completed and put in good working order for about five thousand dollars.

There are one hundred and ninety houses on the reservation built for Indians; these are all temporary buildings, hurriedly erected last winter, without any floors, and will all require more work to make them comfortable dwellings.

The number of acres under fence is two thousand three hundred and twenty, according to the report of the superintendent of farming; one thousand acres of which have been enclosed this spring; these are all good fences, eight and nine rails high, staked and ridered. Of this number there are three hundred and sixteen acres in wheat, three hundred and eighty acres in oats, one hundred and twenty-five acres in potatoes, ninety-one acres in peas, eleven acres in turnips, and seven hundred and forty acres in pasture. The crop, from present appearances, will be very short-in fact, not anything like half a crop. The past season was, perhaps, one of the most unfavorable ever known in Oregon; the rains set in early and continued, without cessation, till April.

Our feed having given out early, and being under the necessity of sending away our stock, we could do scarcely anything during the winter in preparing for a spring crop; everything was consequently put in very late. I think, however, we shall raise sufficient grain for feed, both for the government animals and for the Indians' horses; and we might, possibly, have nearly enough wheat for seed were it not for the large amount of smut.

The amount of grain required for feed will be very large, as there is no grass either on the reservation or in the valley; even now there is scarcely grass enough to keep our stock in anything like good working order.

I am informed, however, that there is considerable grass on the tide lands on the coast, near the mouth of Salmon river, about twenty miles west of this place; but whether this is within the limits of that portion of the reservation under my jurisdiction I have no accurate knowledge; if I find that it is, I intend after harvest to send a party over to make all the hay that can be secured for winter use.

As far as I have official knowledge of the boundaries of this reservation, the whole of the arable land is now fenced in; we shall, however, need a great many more rails to subdivide the fields; the balance of the land is mountainous, and covered with dense and almost impenetrable forests, destitute of grass and game; indeed, there is no game of any kind in this section of country, and although I hope we shall be able in another year to raise sufficient breadstuffs and vegetables to do the Indians, yet they will be still dependent on the aid of the government for beef for some time to come.

In accordance with your instructions I have caused the arable portions of the reservation to be surveyed and set apart to the several tribes. This, at some future time, will greatly facilitate the subdivision of the land among the different families under the treaty, and will also have a beneficial effect among the Indians generally, and encourage them to stay upon and cultivate their own land.

The whole of the Indians on this reservation are and have been entirely subsisted by the government ever since they came here, rations of beef and flour being issued to them regularly by the commissaries appointed for that purpose; they have no other resource whatever.

Should the government withdraw its aid, they would either die of starvation or leave the reservation and prey upon the settlers of the Territory, which would soon result in open warfare between them and the citizens, and, on the part of the latter, it would be a war of extermination.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

Col. J. W. NESMITH,

JOHN F. MILLER, Indian Agent for Willamette Tribes.

Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

No. 150.

GRANDE RONDE, July 21, 1857.

SIR: As the department makes it my duty, I avail myself of this opportunity to report the state of the Rogue River and Umpqua school, of which I took charge August, 1856. The tribes were then located together, within a few hundred yards of the school house; over eighty students came to school. Soon an animosity of feeling sprang up, and a part of the tribes moved a mile distant. This reduced the school to fifty students; these were destitute of clothing and ignorant of our language. The agent made arrangements to provide them with clothing. It was no small affair to keep them clad; frequently, the larger boys lost their clothes in gaming, and were almost destitute the rest of the winter. They seemed to think it our sole business to minister to their wants, and that they were doing us a favor by attending school; they often inquired what we would give them to come to school; they hate confinement and scorn discipline. In disposition, the Rogue River Indians are brave, haughty, indolent, and superstitious. The inconstancy of the students is a great embarrassment; one day the school may number forty, the next, ten. In the spring, the tribes I taught were moved to the Siletz reservation. At the time the school was doing well; many were reading in words of one syllable, writing, &c., and had acquired some knowledge of our tongue; before leaving, they not only burned their own dwellings, but dashed every glass out of the school house, and destroyed the furniture. After their removal I was directed to open a school among the remaining tribes of Rogue River Indians. I soon had a school similar to the former, though not so numerous; by the first of June they commenced reading. At that time I received intimations that my school would be closed, as the department was not able to defray the expenses of two schools on this reservation.

About this time there was some sickness among the tribes which the doctress was not able to cure. She must therefore assign good reasons for her failure, or forfeit her life. The Indians believe that life and death are at the volition of the doctress. On my way to school one morning I met a chief, who told me he did not wish school any longer. The doctress said she distinctly saw the sickness that afflicted the tribes issue from the trumpet which I sounded to announce the hour of school, and settle like a mist upon the camp; and should I continue to sound it, in a few days all the Indians would be in their graves-the camp desolate! I was not such a monster as to sound it again, so the Indians "still live."

J. F. MILLER, Esq., Indian Agent.

JOHN OSTRANDER.

No. 151.

GRANDE RONDE, July, 1857.

SIR: I will endeavor to make you a brief report of the state of the Willamette school. It is not as flourishing as it was last spring; many of my best students have moved to other parts of the reservation; some are gathering berries, and others are too lazy to come to school. At the beginning of the session, the school numbered fifty students; at present it does not exceed thirty, and by far the larger portion of these are fluctuating. In a few days the school loses the charm of novelty, after which it requires a great deal of effort to induce them to come. I have made and issued a great many garments, which have greatly improved the appearance of the children. While they are in school, their progress is as good as could be expected; but as long as they are free to attend school or remain at home I have no hope of their being constant. The Umpqua and Willamette children are mild and easily governed. Parents and children are anxious to adopt the custom of the whites. A great obstacle to the success of my school is the prejudice of the Indians. It seems that most of the children of the mission school died, and those that lived became most consummate villains; hence, many whites and Indians are of the opinion that education renders an Indian mischievous. It may be observed, that a good education. implies moral as well as intellectual culture, and any person of any clime or hue that receives such will be better. I shall not inquire at this time whether the Indian is susceptible of receiving a good education; but I say without hesitancy that circumstances are not favorable for me to impart such. In my first report I spoke of the inefficiency of our schools, and urged the necessity of establishing them on a different basis before they could be of any lasting utility; my experience since has increased my convictions of the necessity of such a measure. Believing that you will adopt the best means to improve the condition of the school, I will add nothing more. MARY C. OSTRANDER.

J. F. MILLER, Esq., Indian Agent.

No. 152.

GRANDE RONDE RESERVATION,

July, 1857.

FIR: I have the honor to transmit a brief report of my operations as superintendent of farming, showing the amount of land under cultivation at the time I commenced, and the improvements we have made up to the present time.

There were six hundred acres of land under fence previous to the purchase, three hundred acres of which were in cultivation; we had seventy-four acres in wheat and thirty-two acres in oats. We also raised, off the same, two hundred and thirty-two bushels of potatoes, two hundred bushels of peas, and about twenty tons hay and cheat. There were also standing twelve dwelling houses, one log barn and one school house; these buildings were very old and but of little service to us. All these improvements were made when the former owners resided upon it, with the exception of a portion of the crop, which was put in by the direction of the agent.

The oats and hay were all fed out to our oxen and the Indians' horses, by the order of the agent then in charge, before the 1st of November, 1856, and we were then compelled to commence feeding our wheat. The potatoes and peas were all issued to the Indians.

From the fact of its being necessary to feed all the wheat to the stock belonging to the department and to the Indians' horses, we were compelled to buy wheat for seed to the amount of four hundred bushels. And there was still another bill of expense; as our pasture failed, and all other kinds of feed were gone, we were under the necessity of driving our oxen and also a portion of the Indians' horses to be pastured and fed, and the expense was much larger from our having to buy all our feed, such as hay, straw and oats, on a credit; for this reason they charged more.

I will now give you, as nearly as possible, the present condition of the farm.

The whole amount of land under fence and in cultivation is two thousand three hundred and twenty acres. We have three hundred and sixteen acres in wheat, three hundred and eighty acres in oats, ninety-one acres in peas, one hundred and twenty-five acres in potatoes, eleven acres in turnips, and seven hundred and forty acres in pasture; of this land we have broken six hundred acres of sod ground, and made the rails and fenced in one thousand seven hundred and twenty acres. We have also cleared fifteen acres of timbered land, and put it into a crop this spring.

There has been a good deal of improvement made upon the Indians as regards labor, and they work much better than I could expect from an uncivilized people. I have been compelled to employ a few white men for the purpose of performing many duties of which the Indians were incapable, as well as for assisting me in teaching them, and in taking care of the farming implements, teams, &c.

The Umpquas and Calapooias understand common labor the best of any of the Indians, yet I must give the Umpquas a decided preference

over all the others; further, they are more moral, if these Indians have any morality.

To be brief and close my report, I would state that the continual rains which fell during the winter and continued till nearly May, caused everything to be very backward, and prevented us from breaking as much ground as we would otherwise have done, and our crops will be very light; but I hope, with proper management, that I shall be able this fall to put in enough wheat to supply the Indians another year. Respectfully, your obedient servant,

AMASA HOWE, Superintendent of Farming.

No. 153.

OFFICE INDIAN AGENCY,

Dalles, Oregon Territory, August 1, 1857.

SIR: In conformity with the regulations of the Indian department, and in compliance with your circular of May 19, 1857, I have the honor herewith to transmit my annual report.

Since entering upon the discharge of my official duties I have been unable, by reason of the great extent of my district and the multiplicity of the duties of the office, personally to visit all of the Indian tribes under my supervision; with reference to what I shall communicate as to those remote from the neighborhood of the Dalles, will be predicated upon information obtained trom reliable individuals who are thoroughly conversant with the country and with large numbers of the principal men among the Indian tribes. My district includes all the Territory of Oregon lying east of the Cascade range of mountains, and on the south side of the Columbia river, between the 46th and 44th degrees of north latitude, and between the summits of the Rocky and Cascade mountains.

The tribes of Indians living within the boundaries of this district are the Dog River or Cascade Indians, Wascos, Ty-ichs, Des Chutes, John Days, Utillas, Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, Nez Percés, Flatheads, Mountain Snakes, Bonnacks, and Diggers; the three last named are generally known as the Snake Indians, and are parts of that large tribe.

The Dog River, or Cascade Indians, reside on a small stream called Dog river, which empties into the Columbia river, about halfway between the Cascades and the Dalles. They are and have always been firm friends of the whites; their conduct during the recent Indian troubles deserves the highest commendation. Formerly these Indians possessed quite large bands of horses, and were, consequently, quite wealthy; they are now, however, quite poor, by reason of the almost total destruction of their horses by the deep snows and severe cold of the last