Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1876.djvu/8

IV that an appropriation be made, to be distributed as additional compensation to those having in charge the most important and difficult agencies.

No matter what particular policy may be pursued in regard to the Indian, I believe that the one feature of educating him and making him self-supporting, or as nearly so as possible, must always be steadily adhered to. The alternative cannot fail to be gradual extinction of the race. If he is to be taught, the success must depend upon the teacher, and the best material attainable should be secured, and paid accordingly. The sooner he is taught to provide for his own support, the earlier the Government will be relieved therefrom.

With the exception of the troubles in Dakota, with the hostile Sioux, we may say that, practically, all of the Indians are upon reservations entirely under the control of the Department, and making commendable improvement. It is believed that by spring the trouble in Dakota will be ended and all liability of Indian wars in the future removed. Trouble with the non-treaty Indians, consisting principally of renegades from various tribes under the leadership of Sitting Bull, had been foreseen for a long time, and the services of the Army were finally invoked to put a stop to the pillaging and outrages perpetrated by them upon the white settlers and friendly Indians in their vicinity.

Reports had been received showing that 60 white men had been killed and half a million dollars' worth of property destroyed by them, and their depredations had become simply unbearable.

The unchecked course of this band was one of the greatest drawbacks to the success of our agents among the remaining Sioux and other bands in Dakota and Montana, and it became necessary to turn them over to the War Department to be brought in upon the reservations. This is being rapidly done, and, but for the disastrous and sad fate of General Custer and his brave command, would have been consummated, in all probability, with slight loss to our forces. The similar trouble with bands in the Southwest, a few years since, was successfully removed, and to-day the Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches are fully under control, and realize their better condition sufficiently to make it entirely improbable that any future difficulty will arise which cannot readily be disposed of by our civil officers.

To what extent the difficulties in the North were increased by the tardy passage by Congress of the annual appropriations, and the consequent dissatisfaction and suspicion of many of those Indians, before friendly, inducing them to join the hostiles, it would be difficult to determine but that the effect was to materially strengthen Sitting Bull's band is undoubtedly true.

The Indian Bureau deserves great credit for its efforts to prevent dissatisfaction and discontent among the Indians at the reservations, and did all that could be done to prevent the recent troubles. It may be hoped that the results of the visit of the present commission to the Red