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George W. Clarke was the agent for the Pottawatomies in 1855. The Kansas Indians had been taken out of the agency; that is, they had been given an agent of their own. The agent's report is an arraignment of the Prairie band. Judged by the Indian policy of the government, the report is a good one. It is a plea for the allotment system. This system has always failed to benefit the Indian. He invariably loses his land to the white man by ownership in severalty.

The custom has been to divest the Indian of his land in the interest of the white settler. In conformity to this usage Agent Clarke wrote his report, much of which is set out here:

"A portion of these people have for a long time had intercourse with the whites, and in a measure adopted the civilized mode of life, and they manifest a desire for the improvement of themselves and their people. This class composes portions of the 'Wabash' and 'St. Joseph's' bands, and having a prominence in their several bands, would be successful in reclaiming, to some extent, under the management of the government, their kinsmen, had they not in their midst the formidable obstacle of the 'Prairie' band, or 'Bluff Indians,' to oppose, thwart and defeat every measure of improvement among this unhappy people.

"The 'Prairie band' adheres to the hunter life, nearly all of whom despise the arts and principles of civilization, who regard it as disgraceful for men to work, and they spare no language in denouncing those of the tribe who cultivate the soil or follow the peaceful arts. This band arrogantly claims ownership of all the land and declares that the other bands have no rights here, nor to the annuities, they being permitted to participate in them only on the courtesy of their condescending brothers. And on this tenure these unfortunate people are thus subjected to the intrusions and depredations of the 'Prairie" band, who frequently kill their stock, burn their fences, turn their hunting ponies into the fields, devour their crops, and even threaten the lives of the orderly portion of the tribe. The 'Prairie' band is a bold and reckless race, and although they form a minority of the tribe, they domineer over it, rule and misgovern the people in a most lawless manner.

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"Thus two conflicting elements prevail to distract and stifle the usual efforts of government to improve these people; and I am of the unchangeable opinion that government should not only assume the patriarchal, but exercise a dictatorial rule over this tribe. The weak who are subjected to the tyranny of brute force should enjoy the protection of a strong power. That portion who desire to lead a civilized life, to cultivate the soil, raise stock, cherish education, should have the protection of good government and efficient laws.

"A portion of this tribe who have adopted civilized life, and those who manifest a preference for such a life, undisguisedly declare that their only salvation is in a treaty, by which their lands will be run out, sectionized, and each individual assigned his own tract, with the protecting power of a state or territorial government and laws. They not only desire to know their own lands, but they require to be sustained in the possession of the fruits of their labor. This policy will save a portion of the Pottawatomies. The others will meet their inevitable destiny which hangs over them, let the policy of the government be what it may. The policy now attempted to be carried out, of endeavoring to amalgamate the civilized and uncivilized portions, is only 'crushing out' civilization, abandoning the hopeful portion to the ruin of semibarbarism, and will inevitably destroy the whole tribe. Under the policy suggested by the intelligent portion, opportunity and protection will be afforded, not only to the civilized but the uncivilized. The former will avail themselves of the policy, some stragglers of the latter may adhere to the civilized mode of life, and all these be reclaimed. If the 'Prairie' band obstinately adheres to its present mode of life (which I am sure a majority will do) they will wander off to remote and more congenial tribes and lands, and disappear before the tide of civilization. This is their destiny. In all events, then, is it now wiser to hasten this result before the better portion of the tribe is destroyed? Save these if we can; save at least the remnant of a once powerful race, who now throw themselves upon the power, magnanimity and wisdom of a great government, who appeal to you for protection. It is melancholy to contemplate such miserable prospects as at present are presented to these people. It is painful to behold intelligent, orderly, industrious families struggling against the despotism of ignorant barbarism.

"The Pottawatomies have no regularly established government. The dicta of self- constituted councils is the law of the time. Influence and interest of individuals frequently protect individuals from punishment for the worst of crimes. Murders, thefts, rapes are but seldom punished, and never except in cases of retaliation, which disturb the peace of the country still more. These people cannot even boast of following ancient customs or adhering to traditions. The hereditary chiefs have been set aside, not by the formal disposition of the people, but by bold, artful and ambitious men who have usurped their places, and who by threats awe the peaceable portion of the people into submission. Among these usurpers changes are constantly going on. A man more bold and artful rises and supersedes some individual who possesses less of these qualifications, and who in turn is 'set back.' It is the influence and determination of the 'Prairie' band that keeps up this state of things, they being the master spirits in the councils.

"Last week whilst I had the Indians assembled to receive their annuity, and after several days' councilling, I was informed by these bold usurpers that they had decided not to receive the money, whilst I was assured at the same time by individuals of various bands and neighborhoods of their willingness and great desire to receive their portion, who also assured me that they knew of many destitute families who needed and would gladly receive their annuity. I responded to this council that they were usurping the authority of the tribe; that I would not regard their decision; and that if any respectable number would come forward

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and be registered I would pay them their proportion. Upon which another council was held next day (on Sunday), and 'braves' were appointed to keep the people at home and to punish those who dared to receive their annuity. Such was the terror inspired among the people by this bold measure, that on Monday a number of leading men who had hitherto held back from the council, met, united with others, and flatly refused to receive the annuity, and no one then had the firmness to come forward and offer to receive their proportion. Had a military command been present, so that the timid could have been assured of protection, the result would have been different."

In the spring of 1855 the steamboat Hartford passed up the Kansas river to the mouth of the Blue. In descending the river she stuck fast on a sand bar inside the Pottawatomie reserve, where she was still lying in October. The crew occupied itself in selling whisky to the Indians, to their great detriment.

The total number of the Pottawatomies on the reserve was 3,440. Others lived in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and among the Kickapoos and Sacs and Foxes.

The Manual Labor School of the Baptists was dormant this year. It had been transferred to the "Southern Baptist convention" for reorganization.

The school at St. Marys was prospering. The report of the superintendent, J. B. Duerinck, was somewhat harsh, and was evidently written to correspond with the demands of the political powers then in the ascendancy, and demanding the extinction, according to custom, of Indian titles through allotment of lands in severalty. Here are extracts from the report:

"We beg leave to say a word on the Indian policy. The system of possessing lands in common, one hundred and twenty individuals claiming an acre as their own property, is replete with evil and bad consequences that will frustrate the best hopes that the friends of the Indians have conceived. I am bold to maintain that no Indian, no half-breed, no white man living amongst them will ever feel encouraged to make his premises a comfortable home as long as he labors under the fear that his improvements are liable to be sold for the benefit of the nation at large. Give them a title to the land, and you will soon see them vie with each other in their improvements. Interest, emulation and a laudable degree of pride, which are innate in every one of us, will do more to carry them honorably through the world than all the penalties and coercions now in force amongst them. At the present time the industrious, frugal, good-natured Indian is to be pitied; he is the scapegoat in every tribe. When Bonnehomie has, during the summer, summoned his wife and family to share with him the toils and labors of the field; when he has secured his crops, and might expect to enjoy the fruits of his industry, then, day after day, week after week, you will see a gang of lazy neighbors, relatives and acquaintances, all indiscreet intruders, visit that family, eat and drink with them to their hearts' content, and eat the poor man out of house and home. We tell the Indians that the first step towards civilization is to give up their wandering life, to settle down, and to till the soil. When they go to work and raise good crops they say it does them no good, because their hungry, half-starved neighbors hang round them and eat them up. This miserable custom, this aversion to work, this eternal begging, disheartens the willing Indian, and he becomes at last so reckless that he feels disposed to abandon our advice, and he concludes that it is

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far better for him to live and to die as an Indian after having vainly endeavored to live like a white man.

"Now, if we pretend to teach the Indians agriculture and its kindred arts, we ought to be in earnest and honest in our purpose; we ought to put them in possession of the means of reaping the benefits, and enforce laws to that effect. We say everybody must support his own family. Nobody shall support a worthless Indian that actually lives in vice, idleness or drunkenness. If there should be any big, stout, fat, lazy fellows in the nation unwilling to work, and who seek to throw themselves upon the charity of others, let them be ordered away; yea, away with them. If they be too lazy to work, let them die; they must die once, at all events, and they might as well die just now as at any other time. Our plan makes exceptions for the orphan and the widow and for all sick, helpless creatures. Besides this, the great measure which the emergency of the times seems to require is the division of the land. I will support my proposition with a string of reasons, to which we invite your attention:

"1. Because it will give a fair inheritance, a permanent homestead to every head of a family.

"2. Because it will make them all equally rich from the beginning, and all can have a competency.

"3. Because it will prevent his wandering disposition; his heart will rest upon his home.

"4. Because they are sure to make more improvements: such as building stables, sinking wells, fencing in pastures, planting orchards, building barns, etc.

"5. Because civilization imperiously demands that this measure should go into operation forthwith.

"6. Because experience has proved that it is a good policy to fire off now and then a big gun; to have a barbecue and a glorification over it; whilst it would afford the friends of the red man a golden opportunity to inculcate salutary measures.

"7. Because the position of the Indian would be similar to that of the white settler in Kansas territory--every one settled on his land, as is the case in civilized countries.

"8. Because there is little evil and much good expected to arise from this movement. "9. Because all the sincere friends to the race recommend it.

"10. Because by this act every head of a family would have it in his power to secure his own homestead, which will give satisfaction to everybody.

"11. Because the greater and best part of the nation desire the changes in order to promote their own happiness.

"12. Because they seem to regard this movement as a decree of heaven.

"13. Because when the easy old way of living upon their annuities has failed, when hunting has become unprofitable, they ought to lay hold of the plough.

"14. Because the Pottawatomies have a fine agricultural country, and can readily sell for cash, at fair prices, all the produce and stock they can raise.

"The subject under consideration is one of weighty importance. If my zeal for the welfare of the red man has carried me beyond the boundaries of discretion, you are at liberty to disregard my views and to hold them for the spontaneous effusions of a heart that feels their misfortunes. We have lived seven years amongst them, and have observed their manners and customs, their strong and their weak points, and we feel as if our advice could benefit them. The best part of our Indians, and especially our mission Indians, have learned to make their living by cultivating the soil, and they are impatient to see the day of emancipation dawn upon them. Help them out of Egypt, and guide them to the land of promise, where every one can build on his own land and enjoy, without envy or molesta-

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tion, the fruits of his labor. It would be impolitic to discourage them in their aspiration, for it is seldom you find a body of Indians so well disposed as they are, and they ought to be met with the cheer of 'God speed the work.'"

His plans would have afforded temporary relief, but in the end they would have accomplished the ruin of the Pottawatomies. In fact, his plans were, in effect, adopted by the treaty of 1861, and resulted in making every Pottawatomie, except the Prairie band, a homeless outcast. The plan has invariably ruined the Indians.

The report of Agent Clarke for this year was one wail of woe. He had ever been a border ruffian, and in the Wakarusa war distinguished himself by murdering Thomas Barber, near Lawrence, in December, 1855. The record of the border ruffians in Kansas during the period covered by Agent Clarke's report was as black as midnight. But hear him complain of violence:

"The tools and implements forwarded by the department to be issued to the Indians did not arrive until a portion of them had gone to their hunts, and I was requested by the chiefs to defer the issue until the hunting parties had returned. In the meantime a large body of armed marauders, styled the 'northern army,' under the command of Gen. James II. Lane, who had been engaged in murdering the peaceable citizens and plundering them of their property, marched into my neighborhood, attacked and burned down the house of a neighbor, took him and the other inmates prisoners; thence turned their march upon my house, and were in full view before I was aware of their intention. I had not a moment to spare beyond the time to remove my family (females and young children); not even had the time to carry off a change of clothing for my family. I fled with my family at a moment's warning, leaving my official papers, the public property, and private estate at the mercy of these licentious brigands. My house was plundered of everything valuable, including clothing, bedding, furniture and provisions. The papers of my office were overhauled and scattered over the premises, many of which I have not yet recovered, including vouchers of my unsettled account current, property returns, which will place me to great trouble and inconvenience to reinstate. At the same time these marauders broke open the boxes containing the tools and implements for the Indians and carried off about one-half of them. I have not yet compared the invoice with the balance on hand, and cannot therefore state the exact amount taken. I stand charged on the books of the treasury for this property, but as I will be able to establish the fact of the robbery and my inability to protect it from the robbers, I indulge great hope that the liberality and justice of Congress will be extended to me for this loss as well as for my private property.

"This same party of outlaws plundered the trading establishment of A. G. Boone, at Uniontown; also several of the Pottawatomies, of wagons, teams and provisions, and thus the foundation is laid for new depredation claims."

Any one who will read the history of Kansas in 1856 will find that General Lane was only striking for liberty and the suppression of human slavery, and the establishment of a free state in Kansas. And, to his honor be it said, he succeeded.

The report of the Baptist Manual Labor School was made by John Jackson, superintendent. There was much improvement, but the school was weak and inefficient still.

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It will be necessary to hear the aggressive superintendent of the St. Marys Manual Labor School. He was still scoring the recreant Pottawatomies, as follows:

"It would be worse than folly to work for a man who is too lazy to work and too poor to pay for it when it is done. We lay down the principle that labor is honorable, and that it is a shame for a man to let his family starve with hunger when moderate labor would keep them in easy circumstances. We frequently tell some of the poorer sort that it is with them as with the 'starved pig'--either root or die. Plant corn and pumpkins, raise potatoes and beans, cease to beg, cease to be idle, cease to be a burden to others, make a garden and eat the fruit thereof, etc. Suppose it makes you sweat--well, what of it? A poor devil ought not to be so nice; a little sweat would not kill you. Some of our gentry have a grudge against us for boldly telling them these things; but in spite of the members of this lazy club, our flag waves in the breeze, and we insist on their making a field and a garden, facilitating them in the way of obtaining a cow or other domestic animals--helping the poor of good will, stimulating the sluggish, rebuking the vicious, reproving the improvident, praising the meritorious, and encouraging the industrious amongst them. We care not for the opinion of those red rovers, and we mean to keep up the fire from the walls of our fort as long as there is a man in arms against us. Their demonstrations and alarms give us but little trouble. We must have patience with them, watch our opportunities and try it again; we are all of us people of good humor, little accustomed to complain, and we believe ourselves the happiest mission in the country. It is a source of unfeigned gratification to us to see so many of our 'mission Indians' improve in their temporal condition, advance in civilization, and bid fair to become an agricultural people. Some of these had lived from time immemorial in poverty and destitution, but at the present day they live in ease and plenty, with moderate work. The march of the Pottawatomies, except the Prairie bands, is onward, and we will soon have great results."

Read particularly the closing sentence of the quotation, and note this fact--that in ten or twelve years, by the policy advocated by the superintendent, the Pottawatomies were practically homeless outcasts, except the Prairie band.

This year, Sha-quah, "a bold and influential chief," becoming disgusted with the conduct of affairs affecting the Pottawatomies, led away a band of about one hundred and took up his abode with the Creeks and Cherokees.

William E. Murphy was agent for the Pottawatomies in 1857. Agent Clarke returned to Fort Scott to continue his efforts for slavery in Kansas. His course there was strictly in keeping with that along the Kansas river.

Continuing the agitation for allotment of lands, Agent Murphy said:

The Pottawatomies have held several councils within the last two months in regard to sectionizing their land but it seems that, notwithstanding this once powerful and mighty tribe have dwindled down to the insignificant number of about three thousand, it is composed of such discordant elements that they cannot unite upon a plan to save themselves from that destruction which will inevitably befall them if they fail to have their land sectionized, and thereby rendered to them permanent homes. The industrious and intelligent portion of this tribe, composed of the 'Wabash' and 'St. Joseph's' bands, see the importance of getting the

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government to adopt such measures as will protect them in the enjoyment of their homes, and save them from being driven before the tide of emigration which is rapidly flowing into Kansas. The 'Prairie band' appear to despise the principles of civilization, look upon work as a disgrace, and when they hear those Indians who cultivate the soil speak of sectionizing, they immediately denounce them and charge them with endeavoring to swindle them out of their land. The 'Prairie band' constitutes about one-third of the Indians within this agency. When I see the industrious portion of this tribe show such uneasiness of mind in regard to holding their land, see them manifest a disposition to earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, and hear them express the wish to have permanent homesteads for themselves and their children, I am induced to appeal to the Indian Department in their behalf to sectionize their land, give each one a homestead of 160 acres, and let them sell the balance of their land, and with the proceeds build stone fences and make other permanent improvements.

"I feel satisfied it would be greatly to the interest of the whole tribe to be more compactly settled. The uneducated and indolent would more directly have the example of the enlightened and industrious, and might be induced to send their children to school, and their land would be less liable to encroachment from the white race."

The Baptist Manual Labor School continued in a state of dejection and gloom. The agent spoke kindly of Superintendent Jackson, but said he was contending against adversity. The buildings were much in need of repair. The attendance was good--fifty boys and forty girls. J. G. Thompson and Miss Malinda Arnent were teachers. Miss Malinda Holloway was supplying the place of Miss Arnent when the report was written.

This year was the last for Superintendent Duerinck, of St. Mary's School. His death is noted in the report for 1858. Here is his final word:

"In our intercourse with our neighbors, the Indians, we frequently take occasion to discuss the importance of industry and enterprise. We are constant upholders of the law of our common doom--that we, and that the Indians, too, must earn our bread in the sweat of our brow. There is no use in being starved when it is so easy to have plenty to eat and plenty to sell. Economy in saving should go hand in hand with energy in getting. A certain class of our Pottawatomies, victims to indolence and vagrancy, groveling in the stagnant waters of sloth, are reduced to penury and famine whenever their neighbors cease to feed them or the traders refuse to sell them on credit. We must drive this gentry to work, and the quicker it is done the better. It is true that these folks have no aspirations after wealth, but they desire to be in comfortable and easy circumstances. We present them the rich soil on which they live, and the finest opportunities for reaping plentiful harvests. Let them try their luck, and they are sure to succeed. If these drones intend to be an incubus on their industrious neighbors--not only unwilling to contribute their mite to the public welfare, but to be a drawback and a curse on the community, begging and extorting the fruits of their toil, and blighting the prosperity of their free-hearted friends--if, we say, this work is going to continue, we feel like calling on them the vengeance of Heaven. Do not imagine that we fight an idle phantom. These evils are real and tangible, and this is the reason why so many of our people are poor and have almost nothing to eat; and, which is worse, they do not care about having anything much to eat, because when the drones smell it they are there, and eat the poor fellows up. I have told them, times without number, that if poverty, mendacity, dejection and

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degradation, the legitimate offspring of their idleness, have any attractions for them, we wish them good luck with their choice; but as for us, and for all industrious Indians, who are many in number, we repudiate their course and have reason to complain of them. They are as poor as you can well imagine. Their families are suffering, and still they would not work, but are eternally in search of a smoking chimney where they may find a bite to eat; the pot of the orphan and of the widow has no guarantee against their obtrusion. But we will soon look for happier times. There is a plan on foot which will soon put down these haughty loafers, and we fondly anticipate that the Department of Indian Affairs will help us to bring about a state of affairs that will go far to correct the evil. The best gifts we can bestow, and the best laws we can enact, are those which will teach these blockish fellows how to earn and how to save.

"You give a famishing man a loaf of bread--it is well, for he must have the bread just then or die; but when you give him the bread, if you also teach him how he may earn bread for himself and family, and make him do it, you have put in his hand a gift and a power that are worth more to him than a thousand loaves, for with them he can command a loaf any other day of his life. We could wish to have more means and more time to bestow in charity on the poor and deserving members of the tribe who thankfully receive little favors, and faithfully pursue the line of conduct that would be marked out for them.

"We frequently inculcate upon the minds of all the importance of a home--a permanent home; a comfortable home, with its thousand attractions; a substantial home, where you can enjoy the comforts of life, gathered around you by perseverance and industry; a lovely home, the right and title of which is vested in you and in your children.

"The 'Mission Indians,' the industrious and civilized class, want to sectionize the land of their reserve and to obtain a title in fee simple, for the following reasons:"

"First. To have a permanent home for themselves and their children.

"Second. To break up communism--a worthless, lazy Indian throwing himself wantonly on a working Indian for support.

"Third. To gather around them the comforts of life, and to enjoy them without molestation.

"Fourth. To burst the bonds of tutelage, and to enjoy the manly privileges of freedom.

"Fifth. To make them look to their farms for support, giving up hunting, rambling, and marauding with war parties.

"Sixth. Because it plainly appears to them that it is the will of heaven, and the desire of government, that they should adopt the modes and laws of civilized life.

"Some certain Prairie Indians, medicine men, with painted faces, who are opposed to Christianity and civilization, and greatly in the minority as regards number want to remain as they are, and they are said to allege the following reasons:

"1. Because they are Indians, and ought to remain Indians.

"2. Because they live like jolly fellows, without working, without laws, and without praying.

"3. Because the Great Spirit would be angry with us if we throw aside our bow and arrow.

"4. Because a little cabin, with a patch of corn and pumpkins, are all the earthly goods we desire.

"5. Because our braves must have two squaws for wives, and occasionally a jug of whisky, and if the land be divided we will be robbed of those glorious liberties.

"6. Because we do not dare break the customs of our forefathers and the solemn observances of our medicine bags."

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"We leave it to impartial judges to weigh the arguments on each side and to decide where justice and common sense belong. Some few superstitious fellows are greatly alarmed about the land question, for they are fully convinced that the Christian Indians will carry their point. They are now opening their eyes to their sinking fortunes, and they turn their impotent spite against all those whom they believe to have been instrumental in putting the ball in motion. They complain very much against the black gowns for making some of their best men believe in the gospel. They urge also, with a sneer, that the young squaws, the schoolgirls of the mission, refuse to marry with their young men because they paint their faces and wear a blanket.

ETHEL WAPP, MINNIE WAPP, MARY PAT-KO-SHUK Riders at the Indian Fair Races, Prairie band, Pottawatomie Indians, Mayetta, Kan., 1917.

"These proud squaws seek the hand of a white man, and their parents and friends want to divide the land in order to have it to say that they own a domain of two hundred acres apiece--a great inducement for young men to take a claim in the Pottawatomie reserve."

Superintendent Duerinck was a vigorous, competent man, and a good director for the school. He was only mistaken as to how to get the In-

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dian to help himself. He was influenced by those conditions most in evidence about him every day. He did not reflect deeply on what produced those conditions. He had no patience with them. He did not see clearly that the Indian was incapable of competition with the white man. It takes centuries to produce qualities which make the white man successful in fierce competition with his fellows. And even then more white men fail than succeed. The Indian has not had that struggle with individual effort in sufficient degree to develop the stamina and staying power necessary to success in individual life.

William E. Murphy remained the agent for the Pottawatomies.

The Baptist Manual Labor School was able to make a much better showing for 1858 than for some years back. John Jackson was still the superintendent. Additional land was enclosed, the fences and buildings repaired, and good crops produced. Agent Murphy said: "During the past two quarters there has been three times the number of children at the Baptist Mission school that have attended there at any previous period during my agency, and they are composed chiefly of the 'Prairie band' children." Superintendent Jackson said: "I am pleased to state that the Prairie band show an increasing disposition to educate their children, and manifest a warm feeling for the institution."

The St. Marys school was much larger than that of the Baptists. Its work was going on well. John Schultz had succeeded Rev. J. B. Duerinck.

The agent reported that the Prairie band had shown increased interest in agriculture. Many of them had enclosed fields, and crops were good. So the despised Prairie band now began to show their worth. Events will show that they had the true conception of what manner of life was best suited to them.

William E. Murphy, agent. This was his third year. There is nothing to indicate where the agency was located. In the days of Agent Whitfield it was at Westport, Mo. There is nothing to show when it was moved to the Pottawatomie country.

The tribe numbered 2,770--726 men, 752 women, and 1,292 children.

The Baptist Manual Labor School had an attendance of 70 boys and 40 girls. John Jackson was superintendent. Ninety acres of land had been put into cultivation--all in corn and potatoes this year. The agent said in his report that: "The school at the Baptist Mission is composed almost exclusively of the children of the 'Prairie band,' a large majority of which band obstinately adhere to the hunter's life and despise the principles of civilization."

The School at St. Marys had a much larger attendance, the boys numbering 103 and the girls 110. The average attendance was: boys, 75; girls 73. John Schultz was the superintendent. His report disparages the Prairie band, saying its members adhere to the hunter's life and despise the arts and principles of civilization.

The government was still pressing the matter of allotment, the agent saying in his report: "I trust that the government will, at no distant day, yield to their request by sectionizing their land and giving them the title thereto, throw-

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ing around it, however, such barriers as will prevent the self-conceited, sharp and would-be knowing members of the tribe taking advantage of them. I deeply sympathize with the honest and industrious portion of these people upon this subject. They see and feel the importance of effecting an arrangement with the government that will protect them and their children in the enjoyment of their homes forever. They would make good citizens, and, from their commendable industry and ardent desire to have for themselves and their children permanent homesteads, have strong claims upon the consideration of the department, the prompt recognition of which, in my opinion, is demanded by humanity, justice and sound policy. Their preservation and permanency on their present reserve can only be effected by citizenizing them and granting them a title in fee simple to the land. I regret extremely to see the opposition with which this question of sectionizing is met on the part of the poor, ignorant and deluded 'Prairie band' of Pottawatomies. They are not able to understand the circumstances which surround them. It appears impossible to convince them of the fact that their ancestors have, in years, gone by, had to vanish and disappear beneath the tread and march of the white man; that there is soon to be here in Kansas another conflict of race; that the dignity, the interest and the social relations of an extensive white population will force them to give place and remove, unless they adopt the customs of the whites, earn their living by the sweat of their brow, and in short, make of themselves good and useful citizens. Talk to them on this subject and after this manner and you cannot more highly offend their dignity. At the commencement of my agency I was instructed to be a parental friend and provident monitor to the Indians placed under my charge. I am conscious of having come up to the requirement. I have at all times felt a deep interest in their welfare, individually and collectively. I have for the last two years been a close observer of the current of public sentiment against the various Indian tribes holding large reserves in Kansas, and it appears to me that the idea of the Pottawatomies being able to hold in common, as at present, their beautiful, rich and fertile reservation in the center of Kansas is preposterous; hence the interest which I have manifested upon the question of sectionizing. If I am right, the question then arises, Should the intelligent, industrious, and hard-working portion of the tribe, who wish to better their condition by securing for themselves and their children permanent homes, be curbed or kept back by that portion who are obstinately blind to the true interests of the whole tribe? . . ."

William E. Murphy remained as agent. The report submitted by him is a brief one. The great drouth of 1860 ruined the crops in Kansas, making it difficult for the Indians to live. The schools were said to be about the same as the previous year, though improvement was noted in that of the Baptists. The only subject discussed at length by the agent was the allotment of lands. The pressure for this fine reservation was becoming stronger all the time. That it may appear from the record that the government was trying to coerce the Indians, the following quotation is made from the agent's report.

"Since my last annual report the Mission or Christian Indians have been moving on in their usual quiet way, advancing in agriculture, extending their fields and other improvements, evincing a commendable interest in the education of their children, and showing every disposition to rise to an equality with the white man. Their great desire now is to have their long-cherished idea of sectionizing their land carried out by the department. Upon this question time has only served to confirm me in the opinion expressed in all my former annual reports, to which I beg leave to refer you. I deeply sympathize with this remnant of a once

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powerful tribe upon this question, and appeal to the magnanimity and wisdom of the Indian Department to have their land sectionized, give each one a sufficient quantity, and the title thereto in fee simple, believing, as I do, that it is the only means to continue their existence within this agency.

"A large majority of the 'Prairie band' of this tribe have an aversion to manual labor, not the least inclination to farm or improve their lands, destitute of game, living only on their scanty annuity, and begging from the industrious members of the tribe. It is this band, under the lead of bad and designing men, that opposes the making of a treaty, the transfer of their trust funds for the purposes of education, as suggested to them by the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, and in fact every measure proposed to the tribe by a kind and parental government to ameliorate their condition, and which is acquiesced in by the industrious portion of the tribe, meets with opposition from the 'Prairie band' and is thus thwarted. This should not be permitted. I am of the opinion that the department should say to these poor unfortunate creatures, We know what is best for your interests, and you must comply with our requests. If the whole tribe were more compactly settled, the 'prairie band' would be thrown into closer contact with those Indians who will work and would probably thereby gradually acquire industrious habits."

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