OCR Text |
Show A. TRIBE OF GOOD INDIANS. Judging from an account given in an exchange of the services of Rev. Mr. Wilbur, the Indian agent who for the last seventeen years has had charge of the Yaquimies Indian i reservation at Simcoe, Washington territory, there is a method of making J some Indians decent and Belt sup I porting. In 1858 these Indiana were I probably aa low down, poverty i gtricken and vicious a set of savagea as we were ever acquainted with. I They bad entered into treaties with the government in June, 1855, and in October murdered their agent, immediately im-mediately after receiving their first installment as payment for their lands, and followed up these acta of " murder by overpowering Major Hal- ler, with 100 United States troops, capturing his camp, horses and guns and makiDg a complete wreck of hia command; and after a three years' war, they were a rather rough begin ning for the building up of an intelligent intelli-gent and Christian Indian nation: ! But Father Wilbur, as he is called, i started in, aLtl has labored so faith- fully and maintained the business of hiB agency so far above suspicion that the tongue of slander baa never dared to utter a word against him, and thus quietly, and undisturbed by removals and changes, he has been able to make a fair test of the practicability nf educatine and instructing the In dian to such a condition as to enable him to be self supporting. How well he has proven the practicability of this can be seen from the following state of facts: There are 3,700 Indians. In-dians. The reservation embraces a tract of country forty by sixty miles, a contiderable portion of which is very good agricultural land, but lies very near into the spurs and foothills foot-hills of the Cascade mountains and ia not a very desirable climate to live in. The government under its treaties trea-ties has built two sawmills, one Bteim and one water power, one griat mill, Bhingle machine and planer. There are 15,000 acres o( laud under cultivation, cul-tivation, 250 comfortable dwelling I bousea, besides shops and barns, etc The Indians cut and haul all the logs, and do all the work about the mills, witb only one white man 'to oversee them. Last season they raised 40, 000 buihels of grain, and suflicientof all other produce for their subaiat-ence, subaiat-ence, the government only issuing during the whole year 2,000 pounds : of flour and 300 pounds of beef. They hafo A BOARDING SCHOOL (This is a missionary enterprise) where tbey take the Indian children, board, clothe and instruct tbem the boys to work on the larm and gar dens, and the girls in housework, knitting and sewing. They have practical workmen in harness and saddles, blacksmith, gunsmith, plow wagon making, and shoemaking, who do the best of work. Tbey have 3,500 head of cattle and 1G.C00 head of horses, besides hoRS, chickens, etc. There are only seven white men employed on or about the entire establishment, es-tablishment, including the agent himself. At the expiration ot two more yeara the government ceases to furnish any more aid in the way of instructors, or tools, clothing, etc., and Mr. Wilbur says that these Iu dians will by that time be self supporting, sup-porting, able to take rharge of every branch of business and manage their atlaire without the aid of agents or teachers. Large numbers of these Indians have becomo e.lucated and Christianized, and I believe are real and failhful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Some of them are very eloquent preachers who would not disgrace the pulpit of more pra-tentious pra-tentious communities. There are now no attempts made to sell whisky to these Indiana. There are no "calico "cali-co squawa," and the tribe is actually increasing in numbers iu about the same ratio as the whites. |