Colyer to President, 15 November 1871, in United States, Office of Indian Affairs, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary for the Year 1871 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1872), 12-22, NADP Document RB1871.

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A.

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS.

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 12, 1871.
SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the third annual report of the Board of Indian Commissioners to the President of the United States.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
VINCENT COLYER,
Secretary.
Hon. COLUMBUS DELANO,
Secretary of the lnterior, Washington, D.C.

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SIR: The Board of Indian Commissioners, in making their third annual report, find abundant cause for thankfulness and encouragement while reviewing the condition of the Indians in the United States during the past year.

CONFIDENCE AND GOOD WILL BETWEEN WHITES AND INDIANS.

The remarkable spectacle seen this fall, on the plains of Western Nebraska and Kansas and Eastern Colorado, of the warlike tribes of the Sioux of Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, hunting peacefully for buffalo without occasioning any serious alarm among the thousands of white settlers whose cabins skirt the borders on both sides of these plains, shows clearly that the efforts of the friends of peace in establishing confidence between the white people and the Indians, in this heretofore greatly disturbed section of the country, have been eminently successful. We contrast this picture with that presented by the same tribe, when five years ago, in consequence of our Government's bad faith in violating its treaties with them, they were engaged in a war made memorable by the so-called Fort Kearney massacre, in which ninety-eight of our soldiers were killed in sight of the fort, and in the course of which many of the settlers on the frontier lost their lives, and so many hundreds of others were compelled to abandon their cabins and flee to the larger towns for safety.

THE APACHES OF NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA.

The only other Indians who have caused any serious trouble are the Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona.
In our last two annual reports we called attention to the situation of this tribe, their eager desire for peace, their starving condition, and the opinion of the Indian agents and Army officers, that, with means to feed and clothe them, they could be kept at peace. Unable to obtain an appropriation from Congress for the purpose, the Indian Department was powerless, and the Apaches were left to obtain food and raiment as they best could--usually by stealing from the settlers or travelers on the highway. As many of their valleys, where they previously cultivated corn, were occupied by settlers, and their mountains overrun by gold-prospectors, who hunted their game, and no attempt had ever been made by the Government, either by treaty or conference, to consider their rights or necessities, this conduct of the Apaches ought not to surprise us. At the urgent solicitation of the board, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, Congress, at its last session, made an appropriation of seventy thousand dollars for the special purpose of correcting this evil, and this money becoming available on the 1st of last July, the Board, at its meeting in May, directed its Secretary to proceed to New Mexico and Arizona, to make arrangements to bring these roving Apache Indians upon suitable reservations, and to feed, clothe, and otherwise care for them. The hearty approval of the President, the instructions of the Secretary of the Interior, and necessary orders from the Secretary of War having been obtained, the Secretary of the board visited Arizona and New Mexico. His offers of peace were received by the Apaches with great eagerness, several thousands of them immediately coming in upon the reservations selected for them, and latest advices show that the remainder will soon follow, if not deterred from doing so by improper influences. The action of the Secretary has met with your approval, and that of the Secretary of the Interior, and the orders issued from the Interior and War Departments, for the purpose of carrying fully into effect the proposed plan, are entirely in accord with the past and present views of the Board of Indian commissioners. Similar instructions were issued by the Interior and War Departments in 1869, soon after the organization of the board, which defined the policy of the Government in the treatment of the Indians. This policy was set forth in the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1869 viz: "that they (the Indians) should be secured in their legal rights; located when practicable on reservations; assisted in agricultural pursuits and the arts of civilized life; and that Indians who should fail or refuse to come in and locate in permanent abodes provided for them would be subject wholly to the control and supervision of military authorities, to be treated as friendly or hostile as circumstances might justify."
The clearly defined allotment of their respective duties to the Indian agents and the military officers in the Indian country, can hardly fail to secure harmony of action, and it is hoped that capable Christian agents may soon be appointed to represent the Department of the Interior upon the reservation.
It is believed that the policy, if faithfully sustained and persisted in by the military and civil officers commanding in Arizona and New Mexico, will be successful, as it has been elsewhere.
The attempt to defeat it by the arrest of Indians upon the reservation who have made peace, for acts alleged to have been committed in time of war, should be resisted, otherwise the act of the Government upon whose faith their surrender is made becomes one of mere treachery. From the time of the Gadsden purchase, when we came into possession of their country, until about ten years ago, the Apaches were the friends of the Americans. Much of the time since then, the attempt to exterminate them has been carried on at a cost of from three to four millions of dollars per annum, with no appreciable progress made in accomplishing their extermination.
But the activity of the military has accomplished its only legitimate and proper end, that of compelling in the Indians an earnest desire for peace. To persist in war under such circumstances would be not only barbarous in the extreme, but an inexcusable waste of the funds and sources of the Government. It has been asserted that the Apaches are more savage and less to be trusted than other Indians.
The agent of the Government who had charge of the Apaches in 1859 when they were at peace, said in his report of the White Mountain Coyoteros, numbering 2,500, and including Cochise's band, that "in all their intercourse with the Government, their deportment toward travelers and traders, they have shown themselves to be the most reliable of all the bands of the Apaches." And of all the Apaches in regard to whom the assertion alluded to is now made, he said, "They cultivate the soil extensively, raise wheat, corn, beans, and pumpkins in abundance." Detailed account will be found in Commissioner Colyer's report on Arizona, A b.

MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN CARE OF RESERVATIONS.

The system of appointing Indian agents nominated by missionary societies commends itself to the judgment of the board, as having effected a manifest improvement in the agencies where it is fully operative. In several cases they have been deceived in the character of the persons appointed, and instant dismissal has followed. In one or two instances the society making a nomination has not yet acted on the implied obligation to take a missionary interest in behalf of the Indians thus committed to their care. It is impossible that so radical a change and improvement as is made and intended by the system should be perfected in the short time during which this has been inaugurated, but enough has transpired to warrant the most sanguine expectation of success. The religious societies which have assumed the responsibility offered them by the President, in his desire to administer wisely, justly, and humanely the affairs of the Government in its relations to the Indians, it is not supposed will in any case fail in their duty from lack of proper effort.

SCHOOLS.

The schools among the partly civilized Indians should in all cases be boarding-schools, where children of both sexes, while being taught necessary branches of a common education, may, at the same time, be instructcd in manual labor appropriate to their respective sexes. The day-schools are a total or comparative failure in nearly every instance known to the members of the board. The reasons are stated in the report of Mr. Brunot, before referred to.

AUDITING ACCOUNTS OF INDIAN BUREAU.

In addition to the duties already devolving upon the board, Congress at its last session added that of auditing all the accounts of the Indian Department, (see act of Congress approved March 3, 1871.) This duty, though a very onerous one to the members, and, like all the powers conferred upon the board since its organization, wholly unsolicited, as it was believed to have been framed by Congress in the interests of economy and honest dealing, was cheerfully undertaken by the executive committee. It necessitated the employment of additional clerks, and consequent expense.

WORK OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

From March 23, 1871, to December 5, 1871, the executive committee examined 1,136 vouchers, including cash accounts of superintendents and agents, representing a cash disbursement of $5,240,729 60, being

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vouchers for Indian goods, annuities, services, &c., amounting to $3,410,759 34, and cash accounts of superintendents and agents amounting to $1,829,170 26.
Of these, there were rejected as follows:

10 for exorbitant prices, amounting to	....................	$82,786 29
2 for being purchased without consulting the board, amounting to	...................	2,292 82
7 "Erie and Pacific Dispatch," amounting to	.....................	15,917 09
21 Northwest Transportation Company, amounting to	....................	52,170 80
Total rejected	....................	153,166 20

ECONOMY IN PURCHASING ANNUITY GOODS.

The same care which was taken in the purchase and inspection of the Indian annuity goods last year under the same committee, Messrs. George H. Stuart, Robert Campbell, William E. Dodge, and John V. Farwell, was continued this year, and, as will appear from their report, (Appendix A h,) with much advantage to the service. The confidence inspired in the minds of merchants, manufacturers, and dealers in subsistence, that the awards would be fairly made, largely increased the number of bids and lessened the prices.
In May nearly half a million of dollars' worth of annuity goods were purchased "at and below the lowest market prices," and in May and June beef, bacon, flour, and other subsistence stores, to the amount of $1,783,729 29, were purchased "at prices averaging much below what had been paid before the board began to exercise its superintendence."
The price paid for beef on the hoof this year averaged 2 06/100 cents per pound as against 4 39/100 cents per pound last year. The amount purchased, 27,441,750 pounds of beef, cost $714,996 85. The same amount at last year's prices would have cost $1,204,692 82, a difierence of $489,695 97 in favor of the present year. While part of this difference may be fairly attributed to a decline in value, it is chiefly due to the competition induced by the reasons given above.

THE PEACE POLICY--ITS ADVANTAGES.

Increased experience in dealing with the Indians only tends to confirm the board more and more in the wisdom of the policy of peace so uniformly advocated by the President, and supported by the liberality of Congress and the humane sympathies of the people; and the board confidently look forward to the day when the bitterness which now assails this policy in some parts of the United States, where it is least understood, will fill a page in history as unnatural and curious as that which records the old hatred against freedom and the friends of the slave.

CONCLUSION.

For the uniform kindness and patience with which the President, the Secretary of the Interior, and the several committees of Congress having charge of Indian affairs have listened to the suggestions of the board, and the courtesy and good-will extended toward its members by all the officers of the executive departments, the General and all the officers of the Army, with whom they have had any intercourse, the board desire to return their most grateful acknowledgments.

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Above all, we desire to return thanks to God for having permitted us to see so much good resulting from comparatively so humble efforts.
Respectfully submitted.

FELIX R. BRUNOT, Pittsburgh, Pa.,
Chairman.
ROBERT CAMPBELL, St. Louis.
NATHAN BISHOP, New York.
WILLIAM E. DODGE, New York.
JOHN V. FARWELL, Chicago.
GEORGE H. STUART, Philadelphia.
EDWARD S. TOBEY, Boston.
JOHN D. LANG, Me.
VINCENT COLYER, New York,
Secretary.

THE PRESIDENT.