Page:U.S. Department of the Interior Annual Report 1884.djvu/13

Rh if they have the consent of the Indians; yet should their conduct be such as to convince the Department that their presence is injurious to the Indians, it is quite difficult to say what would be the result of an attempt on the part of the Department to remove them if the Indians continue to consent to their remaining. While there can be no objection to allowing the Indians of the Indian Territory to lease their lands for grazing purposes, there is a serious objection to allowing the Indians on reservations outside of the Indian Territory to lease lands valuable for agricultural purposes for the purpose of grazing only. If the reservation is larger than is required for the use of the Indians occupying it, there should be a reduction thereof, and all that is not needed for the use of the Indians should be opened to settlement. The time has passed when large and valuable tracts of land fit for agriculture can be held by Indians for either hunting or grazing lands to the exclusion of actual settlers.

There have been frequent complaints made by stockmen and settlers in the northern portion of Montana and Wyoming of depredations by Indians on their stock, necessitated by the want of supplies on the part of the Indians. I called attention to these complaints in my last report. I regret to say but little has been done to remove this cause of complaint. The game has been destroyed to such an extent that it is impossible for any considerable number of Indians to live by the chase, and it cannot be expected that Indians will starve in the neighborhood of extensive herds of cattle. White men would not under such circumstances, and we cannot demand of the Indians what we would not demand of the whites under like conditions. It may be said that the Indians should work and not steal for a living; but it must be remembered that these people have been educated to believe that theft is a virtue and not a crime, if the property stolen is the property of an unfriendly Indian or white man. Until we have given these Indians an opportunity to earn their living by some kind of manual labor we ought not to complain of their depredations. It is not, however, to be expected that the settlers and stockmen will submit to the loss of their stock because the Government has failed in its duty towards the Indians, and the inevitable result of such depredations is to bring on a conflict between the Indians and white settlers, and in the present condition of affairs the Indian is sure to get the worst of such conflict.

With valuable agricultural and pastoral lands in quantities far beyond his wants or ability to make useful, he is a beggar and dependent upon the Government; and when the Government fails to make suitable appropriation for his support, he is brought to the verge of starvation. Left to himself, he will continue in this wretched condition until the vices of savage life shall destroy his race. His destruction will not be speedy, but it will certainly come unless he can be induced to adopt the civilization of the age, which he has until recently scorned. At no time in the history of our intercourse with the Indians have they