| Show I i i INDIAN RESERVATUONS Ulntah and Ouray Agency White Rocks Utah December 15th In the everyday hustle and confusion confu-sion and strife for the dollar few peo hero In Utah give a pie even right who once thought to the Indian j roamed tho hills and valleys or this whole country and was monarch of all lie surveyed The fertile valleys where thp white man now raises his crops In abundance builds schools and plants I trees for his progency to enjoy when he Is dead were once the feeding grounds of the Indians cayuse and by the side of tho clear sparkling waters of tho mountain streams the smoke jfrom his cedar five curled lazily up wirdln the clear pure air from the Jrcd mans wickiup and unmolested he fihot nn antelope or a sagehen from his doorway or folded his tent like an Arab and quietly stole away to the Willis for the buckskin and Jerked vent rson so necessary to his welfare during Htho whiter months i On these trips he took his entire belongings I longings squaws papooses and all raml when the hunting ground was reached he was ready In a new homo in a very short time and soon the 1 crook of his rifle or the twang of his p bowstring was heard in the hills and i i the venison was being smoked over the lllo while the squaws stretched the cured the skins and tanned them Into Ithe I v buckskin that was bought sot so-t eagerly by the traders for about onc I fourth Its value and paid for In goods ervalions are well watered and the streams abound with speckled beauties beau-ties and they can be caught at anytime any-time of the year It isa mistaken Idea to suppose that the Indianshave the best lands in Utah the best lands for farming were bought from the Indiana long before the Government set aside a reservation and white men were tilling them and building line homes on them long before the Government thought of making farmers of the Indians In-dians Still AVC have many line farms on the reservations and tho Government Govern-ment has sent men here to show the Indian how to raise crops and how to take water from the river with which the dry mesas can be made to blossom like a rose aud Holds of waving grain to take the place of sagebrush A large portion of the Uintah reservation reserva-tion has been surveyed and divided Into farming tracts of ICO acres each and these have been allotted to the Indians and homes have been and are being built on them and each year more of tho land is being cultivated This year the Indians have raised OOO acres of grain and 1515 acres of lucerne lu-cerne hay and have marketed 5201 worth of farm products They own 3500 head of sheep and 2500 head of cattle and 10000 head of horses I > They have earned 2258 hauling freight from tho railroad and not apiece a-piece or a dollars worth has been lost or stolen In transit And the freight has been delivered to Its destination in as good shape as It Is done by the while freighters They have marketed at Fort Du chesne 24000 worth of hay l and grain have cut 251 cords of wood and dcliv credflt to the agency and as It is good cedar wood it brings H 1 a cord here I J l1SJ t J p i T i I f I r J Haj Myton Indian Agent at an advance of 200 per cent above cost It was a frequent occurrence too in those days for the head of the family fam-ily to obtain firewater about 90 percent per-cent fire from the trader at the rate of about a half pint for a 250 buckskin buck-skin and happy in the possession of his bargain he hied him away to his I wickiup and proceeded to make life a burden for his whole family a la American and next morning wake up with a heap big pain in his head and an allgone sensation under his belt also all same white chief The American Indian made many men rich sold the best buckskin on earth for onefourth of its value drank whisky that was warranted to I assay throe warwhoops to every swallow swal-low was shot if he got in a white I mans way lost his homo and his hunting grounds millions of acres at a time until all was usurped but a little lit-tle patch here and there on Gods footstool I foot-stool and now when he has lost all or nearly all there are thousands who ask why the Government gives him so much land that the white man wants Fortunately for the Indian there area are-a few men left who look after the wel V 7 I 1 I 1IiI fIjjjJ fik 1 t jT4 r5 tJj i j I 1ioILj s gi 4i Jlaj Hughes Cpnimandant at Fort i Duchesne fare of Lo and his family and tho art of cultivating bristles Is a thing of the past In dealing with him by the Government at Washington It Is in deed fortunate for the Indian that there were a few lovers of Justice liv ing a few years ago before the Indian had lost everything as it is reserva tions have been made for them where they roam at will under the Jurisdic tion of agents who get their orders dl reel from Washington It is of these reservations and the mode of caring for the Indians that this article deals and it will be seen that Uncle Sam Is not asleep when Indians are con cerned ADVANCEMENT The Indian reservationo arc rapidly being turned Into schools for tho train inS of tho American Indian and here lie Is taught how to live like a whiU man and bad examples ot morality are excluded to a great extent from his associates The Uintah and Uncom I 1 pahgre reservations are only two of I the many where the Government is 1 civilizing the Indian t These reservations cover I about an area of 2039010 acres and He in the northeastern portion of Utah and tho largest portion of the area Is as moun tainous as any part of Utah The res I H 1 1 There Is a Government sawmill fifteen miles back in the mountains and the I Indians do most of the work there of making lumber for use on both reservations reser-vations This year 199583 feet of pine logs have been made Into good lumber at the mill and the Indians have earned 600000 in work they have done there There are about 100 miles of ditches I on the Uintah reservation and more j I are being constructed each year These I canals are constructed mostly by In dians and there Is a lot of this work yet to be accomplished I THE AGENCY White Rocks agency Is 110 miles from the railroad and the nearest way to the railroad Is via Price Utah on the Rio Grande Western railway The agency is composed of several houses owned by the Government and built for the use of employees and their families There are two trading stores AA here a fairly good assortment of general merchandise is kept for the benefit of employees and Indians and these stores are run by Indians traders who are under Government restrictions as I to quality and price of goods and they must not charge more than a certain amount for their goods and must have a price list posted in a conspicuous conspicu-ous place at the agency and It will cost an Indian trader his license If he is caught charging more for his goods than the published price The agency lies on a high slope of gravelly soil gently sloping to the east and south is cool In summer and warm in winter There Is little sleigh riding here for the snow lies here only a short time during the winter Here we are sheltered from the north wind In winter and get the benefit of the summer breezes from the south so the climate is nearly perfect We are 1000 feet higher than at Fort Duchesne and yet we have it fully tell degrees warmer in winter than at the post The water here is as pure as snow will make it for the Uintah is fed by snowbanks tIC year around The air here is as pure ns anywhere and one tan see the fort fifteen miles away very distinctly A Government telephone line con nds us with the outside world and with the Ouray subagency thirty miles away The Government houses are warm and convenient and are furnished with necessary stoves and furniture free of cost to employees The furniture and stoves are received first by a Government Inspector and are selected for utility and reliability and tIle result is that they are good serviceable articles There are a num ber of teams used by the employees In the different departments and large sheds and stables are provided for the horses and vehicles and for farming implements used by the agency em ployees As on all reservations we have the usual issue of rations each week and the Indians draw enough free of all cost to them to supply them about two days in the week with Hour coffee sugar salt baking powder and meat We issue i also beans hominy cornmeal and rolled oats nails axes f I picks shovels harness and sole leather and several other farming utensils but all these articles are spe cial issue and a man must earn them to get them TJINTAH1 INDIAN SCHOOL The Uintah school is one of the ef forts the Government has made for I 1 j the advancement and civilization of I the Indian A force of employees i numbering six pay constant attention I to tho welfare of the children who are here housed fed and taught the j I elementary branches of study and j I how to do such work aa is required oC an ordinary citizen The girls aro taught how to Avash iron sew and cook and the boys are taught how to attend to a garden a farm and stock and to keep their own accounts There is a matron who has immediate charge of the girls under tho super I t I ft > 4 1 4 qva 1t < I W t I > J Ei mm 1 S r3 8 trf r = = = 5 11 tnl rT r Bovs RiifMtnfr White Rocks SchooL un O tondent an assistant matron who has charge under the matron a cook who looks after the culinary department and sees that the girls are taught hov l to cook plain food and do 11 well I There is a laundress who with the assistance as-sistance of the children appointed to help her teaches them all how to wash r and Iron their clothing and bedding I and the seamstress teaches them how to mend and make their clothes and to do nice needlework If they show an adaptability to that kind of work There is an assistant superintendent t who with the Industrial teacher looks I I after the learning of the boys All these are under the direct supervision of the superintendent and he takes f i general supervision of all departments under the Agent MaJ H P aryton i About sixty children all ages are looked after here all the time The paients are allowed to see their children chil-dren at any time but the children are f not allowed to oto their homes without with-out leave They are often allowed to go homo on Saturday and return on Sunday but some of them are restricted re-stricted in this because they failed to come back when allowed to go and had to be brought back by the Indian police of whom there are two in constant con-stant attendance for this purpose and to keep order in case of any disturbance disturb-ance There Is a girls dormitory of brick large and comfortable the poll ings are high and It is well heated by wood stO es The beds arc made good and strong and each one is furnished with a good mattress and sulllclent blankets and quilts to make it comfortable com-fortable THE BOYS BUILDING A is a frame and like the girls building It is large and comfortable and well ventilated Behind this Is the laundry building and here are conveniences for keeping the clothing and bedding I I clean In this department as in most of the others the children are made to perform most of the manual labor as they dont get any too much practice prac-tice anyway and it Is good exercise for them THE EMPLOYEES BUILDING Is frame is used for an ofIlco and home for the superintendent and employees of the school as well as the employees mess a cooperative institution ably managed by the school superintendent Hero the employees board for about onehalf of what they would have to pay anywhere else for the Government takes care of its employees in this way by letting them buy most of their supplies sup-plies at a very low figure at the Government Gov-ernment commissary Last month board here cost about 26 cents a day and as tho GoAernment furnishes free quarters for Its employees their expenses ex-penses are not very heavy There are sidewalks all over the agency and one can walk dryshod all over tho agency during inclement weather The water is good the location Is good the sanitary conditions are healthful living is cheap the climate is the best in Utah and taking it all around it is a happy chance that brings one to the Uintah agency to earn and save a little money under as genial an agent as MaJ II P My Ion and as sure a paymaster as Uncle Sam AGENCY HALL There Is I an Agency hall over the school commissary where dances are c I t l 4vc 1 1 Girls Dormitory Ouray School I often held during the winter months and there is plenty of home talent among the employees to furnish music for a dance any time it Is thought ap propriate AGENCY EMPLOYEES The agency employees consist of Agent H P Myton chief clerk J A Robb issue clerk Robert McKune superintendent of Irrigation W S Smith physician Henry B Lloyd miller and engineer George W Dick son w heelwright G II Johnson blacksmith John Otterslcdl farmer L IT Mitchell The agency and school force are at I the time this is I being written about as busy as any set of employees on earth for we are in thc midst of an epidemic of measles At the agency school there are over thirty cases under the doctors care and he Is being very successful suc-cessful considering that many of the cases aro complicated with either ton sill tis or pneumonia BEEP ISSUE I The big day of the week at an In dian agency Is Issue day This comes once each week at this agency and on Saturday Every alternate week the meat is issued and each other alternate alter-nate week other provisions are Issued About a Quarter of a mile from the agency stands a large log building which is the slaughterhouse and every ev-ery two weeks there are from I nine to a dozen cattle killed heleI There arc strong corrals built with chutes lead ing to the slaughterhouse and scales are arranged for conveniently weigh Ing the cattle alive After they are in the corral they arc inspected by an army officer and weighed in hIs presence pres-ence and he sees that they are killed and properly bled and makes his re poiy to the pepnrtment accordingly Application must be made to the commanding com-manding officer at Fort Duchesne for an officer to inspect hoof each time it Is issued at this agency After the beeves have been inspected they are driven into the slaughterhouse They are killed from a platform above by I shooting them Just behind the horns One shot Is generally enough and before be-fore they are fairly done kicking their throats aro cut and they are bled thoroughly Thcit they are skinned and dressed and hung up to cool The refuse from the carcasses Is eagerly sought for by the Indians and she Is a heap good nquaAV who can rustle a goodly portion of tho offal and bear It away to the wickiup The squaws begin to gather early in I the morning at the slaughterhouse j and they never leave it until the last i chance has vanished of getting more I choice morsels and they dont wait to cook them cither t The smell of the I i blood of the beeves seems to make them hanker fOI raw meat There arc eight butchers delailed from the Indians by the boss butcher William Wash a partially civilized one of the Ulntahs These men arc under the direction of the Issue clerIc who oversees the whole proceeding The beeves are killed 1 on Friday and hung up over nl < rht and the following morning the meat is cut up into small chunks of from Iwo to len pounds and piled up close to the issue window on the floor which after the meat is hung up Is scrubbed clean The Issue window la I about three and a half feet square and a tight board fence Is built along In front of It and the passageway passage-way Is only wide enough for one person per-son at f a time to go through This strip of fencing is about twelve feet long and an Indian policeman stands at either end of this to compel the squaws to gon at one end only and out at the olher Each squaw has a sack most of them dirty as months of usage can make them and a ticket or several tickets which tell the number of rations due each one and the Issue clerk punches each ticket and tells the amount of meat due each one and I nearly every squaw has a kick coming com-ing at the small amount she receives They seldom get any more for kicking but it is a failing they have to kick for I more and a refusal doesnt affect their next opportunity to ask for more They are born beggars and from the youngest young-est to the oldest It is the rule with L them to get something for nothing No matter how much is gIven they never are grateful and only beg more RATION DAY General issue day Is a big day at the agency Just after the break of day the Americans bigin to come in and I often a family of four all on one poor cayuse which they ride at a dog trot and one man would be a load for the pOOl broncho who often stands for hours at a time tied up to a fence oran or-an other place handy without food and shivering with tho cold The ration room Is In a long building in one end of which is the office of the agency There Is a long storeroom wIth a door at each side and an Indian policeman is detailed to stand at each door and let the squaws in at one door and out at the other A large box stands in the middle of the floor and Into this the flour is emptied five hundredweight at a time Another box a little farther on is divided Avith a partition and one side has sugar and the other has coffee The issue clerIc stands at the first box and punches the tickets while the Indian In-dian helper Issues it under his direction direc-tion An Interpreter is always at hand to tell the amount due each one and after they have received the flour they pass on to the other box and a policeman police-man issues the coffee and sugar and in this way the rations are Issued to about S50 redskins each Issue clay Each squaw clamors for more as with the beef and seldom gets anything for her trou bleB ble-B ldc5 the articles mentioned there are issues of beans rolled oats hominy rice lard soap bakingpowder salt and clothing besides hardware including farming implement and wagons and harness for their cayuses But these last articles arc especial issues and the Indians have to work for them and show a disposition to earn them The agent here Is supreme and he uses his I Judgment as to which Indian is worthy of any of the special issues Issue day is generally also monte day and games are running all around where there is a spot sheltered from the wind A blanket Is spread on the ground and each one deals the cards and men and women alike gamble on each turn of the cards It is wonderful what a lot of cold they can stand when they get interested in a game They Hit ilghl clown on the hard cold ground and II lakes indeed a cold day to move them Jhey Avill I sit there and lose every cent they haAje on earth with a stolid Indfffeifwc that would do credit to an Kgyplian mummy When it is all gone they quietly drop out of the circle and their place is filled by some one who has an idea that his lucky star Is In tho ascendant and the one who has lost his all lays it to some one who has mebby so made bad medicine Nearly everything that goes wrong with an Indian is laid to some one who has made bad medicine and if they lose they walt with the inmost patience for annuity day or for some other day when they get some money for some thing or other FORT DUCHESNE In the summer of 1SS7 the Government Govern-ment decided to build a fort at the junction of Uinlah and Duchesne rivers riv-ers In eastern Utah where it would be convenient In handling the Indians who Avcre at that time giving considerable consider-able trouble They sent Gen Crook across the country from Fort Bridge to select the site for the new fort He arrived here Fort Duchesne now stands after dark cncevening and mistaking mis-taking Deep creek for either the Uinlah 01 Duchesne he thought that was the plauu for the fort and as It looked good to him and thc Indians did not he said We will establish It here I and lie did and loft the stake bi hlnl f him before daylight the next mnin At thai time there Was u post at the point where Ouray agency stands to day and there AVPIX stockades built there al the time as a protection from the redskins and Gen ChatTel w ho Is now in the Philippines vas commander ihtMn Maj Bentino was the first post commander at Fort Thornburgh and it was moved lo the Ashley valley This fort was located at the mouth ot the Duchesne only about one year and it AVIS only left in the Ashley volley about three years After Fort Duchesne was fairly located there was little use for another post so near and settlers in the Ashley valley were glad to see it come there The distance from Fort Duchesno to I the nearest rajjroud jpojnt Js nlnHysb 1 I miles and the nearest station Is Price Utnh on the Rio Grande Western railway rail-way The distance has been a matter I of much comment for many people cant see any reason for a fort so far from a railroad The fact Is that Fort Duchesne would not be worth a picayune picay-une to the Government if it was close I to the railroad for all reservations are more or less a trouble to Uncle Sara and this fort is essentially a safeguard against Indians The Utes arc a bad lot of Indians and It is only their fear of bluecoats that makes them stay wncjre they are for a day There are several extra bad ones among them and these are frequEntly caught trying to incite the more peaceable ones to an outbreak and It has taken quite a lot of smooth diplomacy to keep them under un-der subjection a great many times There are other reasons why Fort Duchesne is properly located Tho climate cli-mate is first class as is the Avalcr Many of our soldiers need a cool healthy place In which to recover from the hardships and heat of a campaign in a hot climate and there are few if any placet where a man can gain l health and strength faster than he can t al Ibis fort The cold Is seldom of any I consequence here and there Is seldom j t a day in summer thai there Is not a i breeze blowing to keep the air pure J and refreshing It Is quite a relief tot to-t the tired traveler after coming across the sand and dust from Price > on a summer sum-mer day to come in sight of the clearwater clear-water of the river and the fine shade trees of Fort Duchesne It is almost fourteen years since tho post was located here but the first quarters of the commanding officer are standInG there today and look much 4 the same as they did t7e year they were built and they are still comfortable Inside though the outside Is a reminder 1 of early days I During the past year the War department depart-ment decided that Fort Duchesne was one of the most important posts on the department map and as some of the buildings were rapidly rotting away it was decided to repair them and make other permanent impiovcmenls The waterworks problem has cost the GOY I crnment many thousands of dollars here In burned property Every commander com-mander the post has ever had has reported re-ported the necessity for better fire pro tectlon yet a deaf car has been turned to thorn until this summer Avhen about 10000 was expended on a good and suf I fiei t nt plant put in I by Contnutor I j Hahn of Salt Lake Oily A like amount was also expended on new slables and one building the officers quarters was Improved to the amount of 1500 besides be-sides the expense of painting plaster Ing and repairing the other buildings New sidewalks were built throughout so that today there is about a half mile of new asphalt walks constructed I I of the material so plentiful in northeastern north-eastern Utah and than which here is none better for it has been tested in I Vernal and Grand Junction for years I |
