able degree of health at all the different posts and stations occupied in the department, notwithstanding the fact that they had been suddenly removed from the high altitudes and healthful latitudes of the West and Northwest to the malarious regions of Louisiana, and were, consequently, wholly unacclimated. The prevailing diseases have been malarial fevers, chiefly of the intermittent type, which is the mildest form of acclimating fever to be met with in this latitude.

Total number of deaths in the department up to 31st of August, so far as reported to this office, is 48, which, upon my estimate of the aggregate number of troops in the department during the year, viz, 1,678, yields a mortality of 28.54 per 1,000 men.

The yellow fever has prevailed with great severity and malignancy at Key West, Fla., and at Fort Barrancas, Fla.; at the former place, fortunately, the troops had been removed to a neighboring key (Indian Key) before the disease appeared, and consequently they escaped. There were two cases among the enlisted men at Key West; one, Ordnance-Sergeant Crandall, recovered, and the other, Private Pincott, died.

Of the epidemic as it prevailed at Fort Barrancas, Fla., I can say but little authoritatively, as no authentic official report has yet been received at this office. The disease appeared on the 18th day of July, 1875, and I am authorized, from unofficial reports, to state, roughly, that there were 77 cases of the disease, with 31 deaths. These figures give the alarming percentage of mortality of 40.25.

Acting Assistant Surgeon William R. Mandeville, L. F. Salomon, and William H. Carson, and Acting Hospital-Steward S. G. Gill were sent over from New Orleans early in the epidemic. Of these, all have returned to New Orleans, except Dr. Carson, their services being no longer required. Dr. Carson was retained on duty with the troops at Fort Pickens.

Asst. Surg. George M. Sternberg, U. S. A., having been attacked with the disease on the 28th of July, 1875, Asst. Surg. Harvey E. Brown, U. S. A., was relieved from duty at Fort Jefferson, Fla., on the 31st of July, 1875, Special Order 141, Headquarters Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, La., July 31, 1875, and reported for duty to commanding officer Fort Barrancas, Fla., August 5, 1875, relieving Dr. Sternberg, and assuming the duties of post-surgeon.

With regard to the origin of the disease, I can only state that in a private conversation with Dr. Sternberg he informed me that it was his opinion that it was communicated to the post from the ship Von Moltke, which anchored in the harbor on the evening of 19th of June, 1875, remaining during the night, weighing anchor and leaving the next morning. She had five cases of yellow fever on board while in the harbor of Fort Barrancas, having previously buried one case. She had brought the disease from the city of Havana, in the island of Cuba. I am firm in my belief in the correctness of Dr. Sternberg's opinion of the origin of the disease.

While speaking on this subject, I feel it my duty, after the painful expérience of last summer at Fort Barrancas, to recommend an early removal of the garrison of the fort to some place where exemption from the scourge of yellow fever may be practically assured during the months when the disease is liable to prevail. I would recommend that the removal of the troops be not delayed beyond the first week in May. Circumstances might arise which would render a much earlier move imperative; such as an unusually early appearance of yellow fever, in an epidemic form, at Havana, Key West, Pensacola, Pascagoula, or at some other point or points from which it would be possible to communicate the disease. As to the locality to be selected for a temporary camp, I cannot speak. Holly Springs, Miss., is at too great a distance to be practicable. I would suppose some nearer point could probably be found on the great Jackson route; but I am not sufficiently familiar with the localities to indicate one that would be advantageous in all respects. Dr. Sternberg, while here last week, told me that he knew of no place in the vicinity of Barrancas that he could recommend for a temporary camp.

Having been informed from reliable authority on the 14th day of August, 1875, of a sudden outbreak of yellow fever at Pascagoula, thirty miles east of Mississippi City, Miss., where five companies of the Third United States Infantry, and two companies of the Thirteenth United States Iufantry, were temporarily encamped, I recommended their immediate removal to Holly Springs, Miss., as a sanitary measure.

There have been a few cases of yellow fever in New Orleans, during the past summer, traceable in every instance, so far as I have ascertained, to the contagion brought from Pascagoula.

There have been contracts made with the following private physicians during the year commencing September 15, 1874, viz: Drs. Wm. R. Mandeville, Chas. H. Young, E. Lauderdale, L. W. Crampton, R. Barnett, Jos. Otto, M. E. Taylor, Jos. Y. Porter, W. H. Carson, and L. F. Salomon, ten in all. Of these, Drs. R. Barnett, L. W. Crampton, M. E. Taylor, and Jos. Y. Porter have received appointments as assistant surgeons in the United States Army.

The contract of Dr. Jos. Otto was annulled, the annulment to take effect the 31st of August, 1875, there being no occasion for his services any longer at Key West, Fla. I made a contract with Simon G. Gill, on the 24th day of July, 1875, for temporary

duty as acting hospital-steward at Fort Barrancas, Fla., with a salary of $75 per month, which contract, together with those made with Drs. Carson and Salomon, all for duty at Fort Barrancas, Fla., was approved by the Surgeon-General United States Army.

There have been during the year 54 discharges, on surgeons' certific

of enlisted men from the service of the United States within the Department of the Gulf.

The medical and hospital supplies at the different posts within the department have been ample, and easily obtained.

No complaint against any of the medical officers for negligence or incapacity, from any cause, has been brought to my knowledge, either officially or unofficially.

With the exception of the epidemic of yellow fever at Fort Barrancas, Fla., the health and general sanitary condition of the troops within the department has been good and satisfactory.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

V. B. HUBBARD,

Assistant Surgeon U. S. A., Acting Medical Director Dep't of the Gulf.

The ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL,

Department of the Gulf.

5.-REPORT OF MAJ. GEN. J. M. SCHOFIELD, COMMANDING MILITARY DIVISION OF, THE PACIFIC.

HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE PACIFIC,

San Francisco, Cal., September 20, 1875.

SIR: In compliance with instructions from the General of the Army, I have the honor to submit the customary annual reports of military operations in this division.

The territorial limits of the division remain the same as at the date of the last annual report, with the exception that the portion of Idaho Territory east of the one hundred and fourteenth meridian, including the post of Fort Hall, was transferred to the division of the Missouri on the 22d of June, 1875. With the exception above named, the limits of the three departments, viz, of Arizona, of California, and of the Columbia, remain the same.

Bvt. Maj. Gen. A. V. Kautz relieved Brig. Gen. George Crook in command of the Department of Arizona on the 22d of March, 1875.

Brig. Gen. O. O. Howard is still in command of the Department of the Columbia, while that of California has remained under my immediate control.

CHANGES OF TROOPS.

The only transfers of troops to and from the division during the year were the mutual exchange, now about completed, of the Fifth and Sixth Regiments of Cavalry between the Departments of Arizona and of the Missouri. Some slight changes have been made in the stations of troops in the division, which are indicated in the accompanying roster prepared by the assistant adjutant-general.

DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA.

Camp Wright, California, has been broken up, its longer occupation by troops having become unnecessary on account of the improved condition of the Indians of the Round Valley reservation and their friendly relations to the surrounding white settlements, a result greatly to the credit of the agent in charge of those Indians.

It was proposed last year by the agent, with the approval of his su periors, to discontinue the occupation of Camp Gaston, California, but

upon further consideration it was decided by the Indian Department that it would be imprudent for the present to dispense with military assistance in controlling the Indians of the Hoopa Valley reservation and those inhabiting the neighboring valley of the Klamath River. Having no doubt of the correctness of this latter decision, I have retained one company of infantry at Camp Gaston.

Camp Bidwell, California, has been enlarged to accommodate three companies, and now perforins in a more effective and economical manner the service formerly required of that post; and Camp Warner, Oregon, broken up last autumn. Affairs in that region remain in a satisfactory condition, none of the evil results predicted having followed the breaking up of Camp Warner.

Camp McDerinit, Nevada, with one company of cavalry, has continued to fulfill in a most satisfactory manner its office of preserving peace between the scattered settlements of that region and the non-reservation Indians inhabiting it.

Fort Hall, Idaho, has been transferred to the Department of the Platte.

Camp Halleck, Nevada, is not well located; it should be at some point. on the railroad, not very far from its present location, but since all efforts during the last three years have failed to obtain the necessary appropriation for building a new post, I have no more to say on that subject. It being necessary to keep a considerable force somewhere in that vicinity, I now recommend that Camp Halleck be gradually enlarged and improved, as the funds at the disposal of the War Department may justify, until it is capable of accommodating three companies under a field-officer.

In consequence of threatened trouble in the mining region east of Camp Independence last spring, a company of cavalry was sent to that post, and scouting parties visited all accessible points in the mountains and desert. The trouble disappeared, and the cavalry company has been ordered back to Camp Halleck. The company of infantry at Camp Independence will doubtless prove quite sufficient in the future to control the Indians of that section.

At Benicia Barracks, last winter, glanders appeared among the pub. lic animals and had spread so generally as to defy any remedy short of the destruction of all the animals at the post. Thus two companies of the first cavalry were dismounted and rendered unavailable for service during the summer. Their remounting at other points will soon be completed, and the post disinfected, so that it may be re-occupied the coming winter.

The increased accommodations for troops at Angel Island are nearly complete, and the other posts in the harbor of San Francisco remain essentially in the condition of last year.

The great amount of labor required of the troops, consequent upon the large reduction in the strength of the Army, had deprived them, in a considerable measure, of the ordinary opportunities for military instruction during the past few years. During the present season this defect has been remedied, as far as possible, by instituting an unusually rigid system of drills, instruction, and target-practice, which have resulted in marked improvement throughout the department.

For several months past reports have been in circulation of a disturbed condition of the Indians of Middle and Eastern Nevada and Western Utah, generally attributed to Mormon influence and boding evil. What real ground there was, or whether any or not, for such reports or for ascribing the supposed danger to the cause named, does not yet appear.

But the effect was a general state of anxiety and expectation of an Indian outbreak. In this condition of the public mind, a trifling difficulty between two or three Indians and white men, which occurred about the 2d of September, in Spring Valley, on the borders of Nevada and Utah, was rapidly magnified into a general uprising of the several tribes in that region. All the male population that could procure arms were speedily en route for the scene of action, and the peaceful Indians, domesticated among the miners and ranchmen, becoming alarmed, took to the mountains, and thus added to the causes of rumors of war. reports were so positive, and the calls for protection so urgent, as to imperatively demand immediate action. Indeed, the universal excitement and assembling of armed men created a real danger where only an imaginary one before existed.

The

All available troops were immediately put in motion, but before they could arrive upon the scene of trouble the real cause of the alarm became known, and the excitement quickly subsided. The event demonstrated that of which there seemed before to be much doubt in the public mind, viz, that the Indians of that section have at present no thought whatever of engaging in hostilities with the whites.

Alarms of this nature must occasionally occur, and a serious conflict be at least possible, so long as these tribes are permitted to roam at will in a country occupied by whites. But many of them are rapidly becoming domesticated among the people, and support themselves mainly by labor. They are in this way acquiring the habits of civilization as rapidly, perhaps, as they could do in any other; and it may not be wise for the Government to incur at present the expense of placing and supporting them upon a reservation. But such solution of the question may be demanded at no distant time.

The troops under my immediate command, officers and men, have discharged their duties in a highly satisfactory manner. To the staffofficers of the division, and Department of California, I am indebted for a degree of intelligent and faithful administration of the affairs committed to their charge which leaves nothing to be desired.

DEPARTMENT OF THE COLUMBIA.

The accompanying report of General O. O. Howard, commanding the Department of the Columbia, gives a detailed account of operations and the conditions of affairs in that department, with well-considered recommendations upon several important subjects.

His suggestions seem to me judicious, and I respectfully recommend them to the attentive consideration of the Government.

DEPARTMENT OF ARIZONA.

Some matters referred to by General Kautz, commanding the Department of Arizona, in his report transmitted herewith, are worthy of very serious consideration.

A few years ago a large proportion of the Arizona Indians were in a state of hostility; life and property were everywhere insecure; the only possible remedy was vigorous action under exclusive military authority. Accordingly, the President placed the whole matter in the hands of the division commander, with full authority to subdue the hostile savages, place them on the reservations selected for them, and employ Army officers as agents to care for them there.

A well-matured plan, the result of long study and experience, was

adopted, and instructions issued accordingly to the department commander. The splendid manner in which this plan was executed by General Crook and his gallant troops, and the highly satisfactory results accomplished, are well known to the Government and to the country.

In the first campaigns against the Apaches the friendly Hualpais were employed as allies; they rendered most valuable service, and merited a reward from the Government; they only asked to be permitted to live in their mountain-homes. But peace came, and with it the civil agents assumed control of the Indians. One of their first acts was to require the Hualpais to leave their homes in the mountains and go to the desert of the Colorado. They refused to go; the department and division commanders protested against this act of folly and injustice, but in spite of this the troops were required to force their allies to submit and go to their new reservation. This they finally consented to do, upon the condition that an Army officer should go with and take care of them, and they be kept separate from the Mojaves. For a time they were well cared for and fed; nevertheless they sickened and died in large numbers, and became more and more discontented. Finally they were notified by the agent that he would no longer give them food where they then were, under the supervision of the Army officer, but that they must come to the agency, forty miles above. The Indians refused to go to the agency, and returned to their old homes in the mountains. The agent asked for troops to force them back, but General Kautz, with my approval, declined to assist in this act of injustice and bad faith.

In the progress of the war in Arizona other bands, as they were subdued and became friendly, were employed as allies against those remaining hostile, until finally all were subdued and placed upon their several reservations. These reservations were selected with care and good judgment, having reference to the diverse character and habits of the different tribes, their local attachments, and tribal animosities, the aim being to place them where they could be made contented and prosperous, and out of reach of their enemies.

Those on the Verde and White Mountain reservations had become perfectly submissive to the military authority of the Government, had made larger advances in irrigation and cultivation of the soil, and were rapidly becoming self-supporting. They were under the protection and control of considerable bodies of troops, quartered upon their reservations in buildings constructed at large expense to the country. Besides, they were under a promise, either express or implied, that these should be their homes as long as they remained at peace.

But now all this, that had been so wisely and well done by the only men who were capable of doing it at all, must be undone by the civil agents of the Indian Department, as soon as they get control.

The Verdes have been removed to the San Carlos reservation, abandoning all that they had gained. They submitted reluctantly, because they had been completely subdued by the troops, and were led to believe that force would be used, if necessary, to compel them.

An attempt has also been made to remove the White Mountain Indians to San Carlos. A portion went willingly. They formerly affiliated with Cochise, and a portion of them are now reported on his reservation.

The majority of the White Mountain Indians refused to leave their old home, and say they will take care of themselves without aid from the Government, if they can only be let alone.