Page:The Indian Dispossessed.pdf/187

 made by Congress sufficient to have located them in their new home, by building a comfortable house for the occupancy of every family of the tribe. As the case now is, no appropriation has been made by Congress, except a sum of but little more than sufficient to remove them; no houses have been built for their use, and the result is that these people have been placed on an uncultivated reservation to live in their tents as best they may, and await further legislative action.

"The rainy season, which I am informed usually commences in this country from the 1st to the 15th of September, will soon be upon them, and before any appropriation can be made by Congress for the construction of houses, winter will have set in, and they will be obliged to remain in their tents until spring, which will be but a poor protection for their families against the elements."

The agent's gloomy predictions, based on the climatic conditions and the lack of shelter, were duly verified. The official record of deaths for the ensuing year was eighty-five; the Indians mourned the loss of one hundred and fifty-seven; but if there is any virtue to be extracted from the fact that one-seventh, instead of one-fifth, of the entire tribe was sacrificed within the first year, the Indian service is welcome to it.

The agent next proceeds to lecture his Government on the question of title:

"As the matter now stands, the title to this reservation remains in the Quapaws, no effort having been