Show TRADING WITH THE INDIANS G 8 L CITY march elo eio EDITOR eto DESERET NEWS sir numerous letters have been addressed to me respecting the illicit traffic carried on by citizens and and some who are not citizens citizen sp with the various bands and tribes of indians who inhabit this territory territory Terri tor Y the following is ia fro from in a gentleman who comes endorsed as a bishop in the church and I 1 infer that the writer is a reliable man whose statements may be safely confided in n please insert the letter and accompanying in comments comm ants if you c can an spare sparest so much space BRIGHAM CITY jan 11 II 1861 to COL DAVIES DA VIES SUPT OF INDIAN Ar AFFAIRS FAIRS sir I 1 beg leave to inform you that there is in this vicinity a certain band of from seven to ten lodges of shoshone indians commonly known as band he being the chief and a well disposed indian friendly to the whites of that number four or five make a practice of plundering and stealing almost everything they can lay their hands bands on both from their indian neighbors and the whites to the great annoyance anno annoyance yanc e of both there is also aiso abo an old indian jake who is tery advas s banu al to communicate to the whites any plan t thatis up among the indians to rob the whites hit es in consequence of which they have a pique at him and every chance they can get they steal his horses they stole his bis gun blankets ammunition ammunitions and pretty near all he had a short time ago his lodge is separate from f rom all others there has never been anything done for him by an any former agent and ifcher zone could be anything done to relieve his bis sufferings suffering it would be a blessing to him and relieve me of a great many soli citations to give recommendations ions to him to beg from the community on whom they are a great burden there is also a great deal or of dissatisfaction exi exl existing sting among the whites in consequence 6 of certain evil disposed persons who will trade and traffic with those bad ad indians selling them whisky and causing intoxication among them to the great annoyance of the peaceable pea cable and law abiding citizens of this county now sir I 1 would ask is there any way ot of bringing such offenders to justice and putting a stop ro to such illegal traffic even to the endangering dan gering of the lives of women and children and is there any way of bringing those indian desperadoes radies to justice an and stopping t ping their stealing n g our horses and cattle cattie and OT n killin killing gour our work oxen which they have done to the number er of three or four within the last two weeks I 1 submit this to you for your early consideration era tion an answer to the same will be b thankfully received by a friend to the general welfare and good of 0 all ALVIN alvix NICHOLS I 1 in reply to the inquiries of bishop nichols and as a general answer to all dimitar inquiries I 1 make the following quotations from acts of congress relating to these subjects the act regulating trade with the indians dated june 30 1834 reads in part as follows sec 2 no person shall be permitted to trade with the indians cin oin in the indian country without a license and the person applying for such license shall give bond with one or more elre bire sureties ties in a penal sum not hot e exceeding x ceedie five thousand dollars 0 0 so no I 1 trade aall shail be carried on with sa said bald id t tribes except at certain suitable and conven convenient lent tent places to be designated in the license sec see 4 any person who shall attempt to reside in the inzian country afi as a trader or to introduce goods or to trade therein without such license shall forfeit all mira mer chandeze chan dize offered for sale to the indians or found in his bis possess possession on and shall forfeit and pay the sum of five h hundred u adred dollars sec 7 if any person shall purchase or receive of any indian in the way of barter trade or pledge a gun trap or other thing commonly used in hunting any instrument of husbandry cooking utensils or clochin clothing he shall forfeit and pay the sum of R fifty dollars sec 20 if any person shall sell ex exchange change or give barter or dispose of any spirituous liquor or wine to an indian such person shall forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars and it shall be lawful for any person in the service of 0 the united states or for any indian to destroy any ardent spirits or wine found in the indian country ditc etc itc sec 21 if any person shall within the ahe indian country set up or continue any distillery for manufacturing ardent spirits he shall forfeit and pay a penalty of one thousand dollars and it sha shall F I 1 be t the e duty of the superintendent of indian affairs agent or subagent sub agent within the limits of whose agency the same shall be set up or continue forthwith to destroy and breakup the same and it shall be lawful to employ the military force of tho the united states in exe executing execution cutin that duty the session of judge kidneys kinneys Kin court which is to commence on monday next will b be e in time for bishop nichols and all other high minded men to present their grievances in in a form to make themselves heard and I 1 avail myself of this medium to express willin willingness gnes s to extend a he hearty art L operation cooperation co I 1 have discovered one of le the horses stolen from the old indian Do Dosa spoken of in the bishops leter le ter and expect to get possession af him in a few days books blankets clothing and cooking utensils given by bk me to indians indiana in this city have been traded for by white men residing within the limits of the cit city I 1 within the two weeks last past as I 1 am ini informed amo and it is a daily practice for persons to carry on this unlawful traffic they deserve the penalties annexed to such of fences and it is for the courts and thel their r cers to ferret out the offenders and bring them to jus jub justice tlde tide BENji BENJIAMN aun aum DAVIES supt bupt of indian affairs U V T |