Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/207

 NOTES ON OREGON CONDITIONS IN THE FIFTIES. 199 In 1858 the Surveyor-General again officially adverted to these matters, saying : "It was intimated in my annual report, under date of September 17, 1856, that if the then looked for peace and quiet with the Indians in Oregon should be realized, and no adverse circumstances should present themselves, the surveys of all the public lands fit for settlement and cultivation, west of the Cascade range of mountains, might be completed by the end of the current year. And if any of the public domain should remain unsurveyed it would consist of fractional town- ships along bases of mountains, in mountain gaps, and on mountain summits, apart and detached from the surveyed lands. But Indian difficulties in Southern Oregon have only recently been brought to an entire termination, and the ever- recurring reports of new discoveries of gold, and consequent excitement and inflation of prices of labor, and its products, were sufficient to retard surveying operations, and defeat the fulfillment of the hope of 1856. However, even in the ab- sence of these circumstances, it would have appeared that the appropriations for continuing the surveys west of the moun- tains, in this district, were inadequate to meet the expense of completing the work. It is now probable that every appropri- ated dollar will be consumed by surveys under existing con- tracts. "Since the disappearance of hostile Indians from the entire southeastern portion of Oregon, it has been found that there is more land suitable for farming and grazing purposes than there was supposed to be in that part of our Territory. The hostile savage being out of the way, and there being a constant demand for beef cattle and agricultural products in the min- ing districts north and south of it, this land will doubtless soon be sought and occupied by farmers, and other persons. The surveys should therefore be extended over them. "It may be proper here to note the fact that there are sev- eral tribes of Indians usually found near Klamath Lake, among whom are the Klamaths, Modocks, and Pintes, many of them, probably, properly belonging to California. Their reported number is about 600, but their actual number is not known, no census having ever been taken of them. As these Indians are not known to have manifested any hostilities, within the last four years, to the whites of Oregon, I would respectfully suggest the propriety of providing for negotia- tions with them for the purpose of securing their assent to the