Show A SPLENDID COUNTRY the indian reservation has baa attracted the attention of the people or of thu this state for over a year on account of the that bat have been pending between a commission representing the united states government and the uintah indians indiana for the purchase of the surplus lands owned by them those these negotiations were broken oft off not long ago but are about to be renewed A now new commission to Is expected and it is believed that something will be accomplished ibis time the di of a visit to this in than dian agency by one of our citizens may therefore be of special interest to such of our people as have been contemplating to procure a home borne when the reservation shall be thrown open the distance from price the nearest railroad station to fort ducheane DuC beane beene Is ie 94 miles excepting the first miles it to is a good road bout about two wo mile ailee nort northeast beast of the fort are the celebrated gilsonite mines from which a number of carloads are shipped every week to st louis louie where it is ie manufactured into and roofing mi aerial and where it la in also sola eoln for various other purposes it is hauled from the mines to price station elation and ana furnishes return freight to the numerous teams team that are employed in hauling the supplies to the fort the distance dla tance from the port fort to the agency to la fifteen miles the road lies lias through the indian farms that have been established during the last two or three years it Is Js is encouraging to see the great progress that has bas been made to induce the indians to give up their heir roving predatory and be come tillers of the soil oil thousands 0 acres tes have been cleared bleared and are now cultivated by these indians who wh but a low few years ago considered it a die disgrace to work and who derided and scorned the few that could be I 1 induced by present or other favors to make a beginning in this direction too much praise can not be bestowed upon col randlett and his assistants for the admirable tact and judgment displayed in overcoming the prejudice of these savages to towards wardle any ad all forms of civilization it is assured by those who have watched those these matters for a long time that he has done more during the last four years to bring about these desirable results than had been cone previous t to his bis time during all the y years earn since t the b establishment of the agency in 1868 possessing considerable knowledge ol oi human nature he be discovered at once the cause of former failures he saw it would not do to make made too sudden changes change and his first endeavor therefore was to raise these savages out of the bunting into hato the pastoral stage rivage the natural way in which all civilization progress es ea this he accomplished by issuing to 10 them cattle to take ogre care of and buying from them pare of 01 the beef supplies supplier thus in sensibly converting them into cattle raisers raie ers he also paid them extra rates to haul baul the an annuity guity goods furnished by the government in numerous ways he be has pursued the same policy until at lost last he be has succeeded in breaking down their strong disinclination to work and made more disposed towards the tilling of the soil boil in ID speaking on the he subject to the colonel he incidentally remarked that he fie waa himself born bora and raised on OD a farm tois this early training has baa un doubt ly been of great service to him sod a ol 01 accounts lor for the admirable mont manifested by bj him bim iu in all the operations opera tiona connected his interesting experiments I 1 will mention only one case in point all hit hie pro pre decess ors have conducted the me farming operations opera tiona on the low bottoms botto niB whose water was wa easily brought from the river on these farms the alkali would soon rise to lo the surfaces killing the crops and disgusting the indians indiana the perseverance and per sis tency Doy of their brethren want to see bee immediate and continuous results the colonel commenced his big operations by taking out long canals and carrying the abe water to the highest benches and thus taking to lo right away better laud land freer from alkali and from which the existing excessive malts alts are naturally drained to lower levels the lands thus secured are well adapted for oil all the various farming operations in eluding fruit raising and the indians there located are highly delighted with tho the results obtained we met there an agent from one of our home nurseries who assured us ue that be did an excellent cellena busi business nees with these indians one of whom who already has a young orchard growing had bad given him a second order for trees to the amount of As an we banded wended our way through a 8 lane JOBS passing between the different farms farm all well fenced in with good dwelling house outhouses out houses etc ate we bad an excellent opportunity to view the numerous nume roua stocks stacks of lucerne hay bay wheat oats etc we were after wards told by the head bead farmer that the indians indiana had already thrashed over bushels of grain and were not naif finished these good results result have been obtained by allowing each in dian to take in a white man A s partner who jarms with them on shares the colonel thus hopes to educate the in cisne in farming arming so that in a your year or two they will be independent farmers at the agency we made the acquaintance of mr muse the chief lork clerk in charge and mr wayman way man the head bead farmer and had bad a very pleasant interview with him from mr wayman we learned that in looking over the ground for a now new canal tr m the uintah river to cover a large bench lying between the be uintah and du da chesne cheece rivers river on the lower part of which the above described fatme farms are situated he be tred the remains of an old canal which had bad been used perhaps bun hundred bredle ts of years BEO ago jAl though the remains were sufficiently plain to be seen the old canal had been too much impaired by the lapse of ages to be of any use for the canal his he was boontem plating because the means at his command were not sufficient f for or such enter prise but with sufficient means he to confident confide Dt that the restoration of the old canal is perfectly possible and it would cover caver thousands of acres above the be canal he be is building he also stated that be found similar remains of a ditch or canal on the east branch of lake fork the next stream west of the uintah the indications are that bat this country has ban at some come time lima been well settled by a race whose remains mal are found all over this thi state eState similar canals canal were also found and are at present utilized by tile the white settlers of northern arizona while at the agency we also visited the indian school the buildings are all that can be desired plenty of light fresh air and scrupulous cleanliness there bre are at present about eighty pupils of all ages and both sexes at the school the lady teachers conduct the elementary eng lish branches and seem to take ft a proper pride in their vocation and great delight IW in all the indications 0 intelligence exhibited by their pupils besides these two ladies there la Is a gentleman teacher for manual training and la Is principal the school some times contains con tain a as many as pupils which is about one third of the children of school age on this reservation A little to the east of the school building la Is the boarding house and ana dormitory here a white batrou presides with indian girl assistant and due attention is given to health comfort order and cleanliness the cooking depart ment la Is under the direction of a white housekeeper who is ia assisted by several indian girl A short abort distance to the north oi of the school Is the laundry where the work ia being done by indian boys and girls under the direction of a white expert everywhere order and cleanliness prevail the predominating idea seema seem to be to teach by example and object lessant as much or more than by precept immediately to we tue west weal of the school house bouse is situated the teachers residence this to Is a large building con besides the private rooms of the teachers a kitchen dining room parlor superintendent room anu amusement amuse meat room all large airy and well lighted rooms room and conveniently arranged these bull dinus are all sit ait bated inside of a neatly fenced square ton ten acres in extent the same size as aa one of our salt bait lake city blocks block planted with shade trees lawns etc the results so far obtained are not at all commensurate with the means expended and the apparent painstaking efforts of their self teach jers ere still they are encouraging in those studies that appeal to the emotion and imagination most progress seems to be made thus in drawing and painting cheke children invariably excel exoe whereas in the more intellectual studies such as mathematics language Jau lau guage etc they are woefully woe tully deficient we saw some drawings made by indian boys that would be a credit to most of our city boys of similar age we also aloo saw a collar made of variously colored beads by one of the indian girls of purely native design and style of which in its way was an artistic gem the question of the possible poe sible opening of the reservation was discussed with those hose in charge and the impression impre slon prevails prevail that an arrangement will be arrived at by which the western halt half of the present reserve will be coded ceded to the united states government this will embrace some excellent farming land in the upper du chesne river valley but most of the large bodies of cultivable land are on that portion of the reserve which the indians indiana wish to retain it if the arrangement is made as 9 indicated there will be much disappointment among the home seekers of chis state stage |