Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1880.djvu/27

Rh and possibly the Pawnees. I could, therefore, not have recommended the return of the Poncas to Dakota without at the same time keeping in view the probable necessity of returning other Indian tribes from the Indian Territory to the region originally inhabited by them. This would, in all probability, result in an extensive evacuation of the Indian Territory, and just of that part of it which contains the lands coveted by the intruders, and which lands are held against them on the ground that they are reserved for Indian settlement. It is obvious that the evacuation by the Indians of the region held for Indian settlement, and defended on that very ground against intruders, would be apt greatly to encourage and stimulate the projects of invasion which, although repeatedly repelled, are pursued by evil-disposed persons with persistent activity. The defense of the Indian Territory against that invasion would inevitably become much more precarious, and the breaking down of all barriers before the Indian tribes inhabiting the Territory are prepared for such an event, would, in all probability, be most disastrous to them. While the original removal of the Poncas from the North to the Indian Territory was an injustice to them, yet, that removal and their settlement in the Indian Territory accomplished, the aspect of the question changed very materially, inasmuch as the measure intended to right their wrongs by their return, would be apt to bring a new wrong upon Indian tribes far more numerous, a wrong greater than the injury originally suffered by the Poncas themselves. These are the reasons why, although recognizing the hardships endured by the Poncas, I could not conscientiously recommend their return to Dakota. There is a bill now before Congress providing for that return. If it is to become a law, it should not be without a clear view of the probable consequences. Recommendation has repeatedly been made by this department that Congress provide an appropriation for the purpose of amply indemnifying the Poncas, and that recommendation is now urgently repeated.

The long guerrilla warfare carried on by Victoria's band of hostile Indians in New Mexico has at last come to a close by the death of Victoria, and the destruction of the larger part of his followers on Mexican soil. In my last annual report, and that of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the circumstances which led to the outbreak of hostilities between Victoria's band and the forces of the United States were elaborately set forth. As appears therefrom those circumstances did not consist, as alleged in the report of a military officer, in the persistent efforts to remove Victoria and his followers to the San Carlos Agency, for while such a project was formerly entertained, it had been given up at the time when the outbreak occurred. Victoria had come on the 13th of June, 1879, with a small number of followers to the Mescalero Agency in New Mexico, and upon a conference with the Indian Agent, given his promise to stay there quietly. That promise had been accepted and