BANCROFT LIBRARY -o THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA "In re California Indians to Date" An authorized account of the present status of the California Indians and what has been done up to 1 909. Issued by the Los An geles Council of the Sequoya League. Fifth Bulletin You arc asked to join the Los Angeles Council of the Scquoya League. The League secured a model reservation for the evicted Warner 's Ranch Indians; secured the repeal of the atrocious "Hair- Cut Order f has supplied seed-grain, clothing, bedding and food for eight months to the starving Mission Indians; has opened a market for their basket industry that preserved it from extinction and lias gone far toward securing for these disinherited children of the soil, ample land and water by which to earn a secure Jiving b\ the application of labor and thrift. It has yet many things to do. Membership, $2.00 per year; life membership, $50.00. Remit to Chas. F. Lummis, 200 Avenue jj, Los Angeles. LEAGUE (INCORPORATED ) MAKE BETTER. INDIANA Se-quo-ya, the American Cadmus" (born 1771, died 1842), was the only Indian that ever invented a written language. The League takes its title from this great Cherokee, for whom, also, science has named ("Sequoias") the hugest trees in the world, the giant Redwoods of California. NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE David Starr Jordan, Prest. Stanford Univ. Geo. Bird Grinnell, Editor "Forest and Stream," N. Y. Chas. Cassat Davis. L/os Angeles C. Hart Merriam, Chief Biolog. Sur vey, Wash. D. M. Riordan, New York City Richard Egan, San Juan Capistrano, Cal. Chas. F. Lummis, Chairman LOS ANGELES COUNCIL Prest., Rt. Rev. J. H. Johnson Treas., Wm. C. Patterson EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Wayland H. Smith, (Sec.) Miss Cora Foy Mrs. Arturo Bandini Mrs. J. E. Coleman Chas. F. Lummis, Chairman A I )VI SOU Y BOARD Mrs. Phebe A. Hearst, University of Cal. Archbishop Ireland, St. Paul, Minn. Ex. U. S. Senator Thos. R. Bard, Cal. Edward E. Aver, Newberry Library, Chicago Miss Estelle Reel, Supt. all Indian Schools, Washington W. J. McGee, Director St. Louis Museum F. W. Putnam, Peabody Museum, Harvard College Stewart Culin, Brooklyn Inst. Geo. A. Dorsey, Field Columbia Mu seum, Chicago Dr. T. Mitchell Prudden, College Phys. and Surgeons, N. Y. Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washington F. W. Hodge, Smithsonian Institute, Wash. Hamlin Garland, author, Chicago Mrs. F. N. Doubleday, New York Hon. A. K. Smiley (Mohonk), Red- lands, Cal. George Kennan, Washington LIFE MEMBERS Mrs. Horace M. Dobbins, 1204 S. Orange Grove Ave., Pasadena; Mrs. E. L. Doheny, 8 Chester Place, Los Angeles; Josephine W r . .urexel ; Mary F. Fels 39 Wilson St., London; Mr. Joseph Fels, 39 Wilson St., London; Miss Antoinette E. Gazzam, Cornwall on Hudson, N. Y. ; Mrs. A. R. Gazzam, Cornwall on Hudson, N. Y.; Miss Mira Hershey, 350 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles; Miss Amelia B. Hollenbeck, Glen Summit, Pa.; H. E. Huntington, Los Angeles; Homer Laughlin, Laughlin Bldg., Los Angeles; J. M. C. Marble, 2202 Figueroa St., Los Angeles; Mrs. D. A. Senter, Pasadena, Cal.; Thos. Scattergood; Geo. W. Marston, San Diego, Cal.; H. C. Gordon, San Diego, Cal. IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE By WAY LAND H. SMITH, Secretary of the Scquoya League. HEN Senator Bard was succeeded by Senator Flint in 1905, Mr. Lummis suggested that as a representative of the Sequoya League I should see him and make sure what his attitude was on the Indian question. I found the newly-elected Senator not only ready to be inter ested, but interested already. He had thought much and to the point, on the subject, and was determined that the existing disgrace should be removed, as much, at least, as present action could remove it, from California's maleficent Indian record. During the fall of 1905 Senator Flint, Mr. Lummis and I made a trip to some of the most characteristic Indian reservations in San Diego County. We traveled by wagon, over jack-rabbit trails, into the remote and scattered Campo reservations, where these un fortunate people were located by the mistake of a careless surveyor in San Diego and left to starve with Indian stoicism among the rocks. We also visited Pachanga reservation, and other examples of the unhappy Indian situation. "When I go to Washington," Senator Flint said to me, "I do not want to ask congressional action on what I have been told. I want to see how things are for myself." The results of this trip have been definite. The time, indeed, was ripe. The public conscience was awakened. President Roosevelt was warmly sympathetic. The Indian Commissionership w r as in the competent and experienced hands of Mr. F. E. Leupp, and the legis lative mind was prepared by the widespread newspaper reports of the starvation at Campo, discovered and relieved by the Sequoya League not long before. Instead of the customary stone wall of official indifference and inaction, Senator Flint found intelligent co-operation. He was able to get through Congress a bill appropriating $100,000 for the pur chase of lands and the development of water. To this $50,000 was subsequently added, making $150,000 in all. Mr. C. E. Kelsey, peculiarly equipped and qualified for the work, was made special Indian Commissioner for California, and in his hands the practical disbursement of this sum was placed. The Sequoya League is able to give detailed and official state ments from Mr. Leupp, the Indian Commissioner, and Mr. Kelsey, the Special Commissioner, covering the work that has been done so far and that remains to be done, to relieve the Indian situation that has so long disgraced California. Mr. Kelsey's report is con fined to the Mission Indians in Southern California. Mr. Leupp's covers briefly the entire State. To these has been added a statement IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE 3 of the engineering work on the reservations, made by Air. Olberg under the supervision of Chief Engineer Code of the Indian Service. These make together a most authoritative and complete statement of the Indian status given by the men most competent to speak and covering thoroughly all aspects of the work. ^ rf '; UNITED STATES SENATE. COMMITTEE ON THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, January n, 1909'. Way land H. Smith. Dear Sir: Further replying to your letter of October 3ist, I beg to advise- that I submitted a request to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to furnish me the information which you desired, but he has been delayed somewhat in sending me the report, owing to the fact that he states he desired to strengthen the case as much as possible and submit a very full and detailed account of the whole work done for the California Indians and the reason therefor. I enclose you herewith copy of the report I have just received from him, which I trust will be of service to you. Yours truly, FRANK P. FLINT. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. Subject: WASHINGTON, January 5, 1909. Results accomplished for California Indians with special appropriation. HON. FRANK P. FLINT, United States Senator. Sir: I have your letter of the ist inst. asking for a report of the work undertaken for the Indians of California with the appropriation of $100,000 carried in the Act of June 21, 1906, and the additional appropriation of $50,000 by the Act of April 30, 1908, in order that you may transmit this information to Mr. Wayland H. Smith of Los Angeles, secretary of an organi zation which has the interest of these Indians at heart. You intimate that special use is to be made of this report, and that it ma> be published. Because of this I shall set forth at some length the results which have been accomplished, together with some intimation of what remains to be done. When California was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Guada- lupe Hidalgo, the Indian occupants of that State had certain rights to the lands which they occupied, and, under the law then existing, they could not legally be evicted therefrom. When, attracted by the discovery of its won derful mineral resources, white settlers poured into California, the usual happened and the weaker native people in a multitude of cases were crowded out of their homes. In the confusion and excitement attendant on the mining enterprises to give the facts the most charitable coloring treaties which had been concluded with the various tribes and bands were ignored or failed of ratification, the Indians were never paid for the lands which they had ceded,, and those which were to have been reserved for them were allowed to remain a part of the public domain, and in the course of time were all, or nearly all, appropriated by later settlers. 4 IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. For the Indians of Southern California much was accomplished by what is known as the "Smiley Commission," appointed under the Act of January 13, 1891, upon whose report the same year the President based his order setting apart what are known as the Mission Reservations. For the Indians of the northern part of the State, however, no provision was made at that time. Although it is impossible now to undo all that has passed and restore to the original owners of the soil the possession of any appreciable part of it, the Congress by the Acts of June 21, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 225, 333) and April 30, 1908 (35 Stat. L. 70, 76), made provision whereby homes have been provided for many homeless Indians, and a fair start in life afforded them even at this late date. These acts, carrying appropriations amounting to $150,000, were framed in consonance with the existing conditions in California, where a tract of good land of 2 to 10 acres in area is sufficient to afford support to a frugal family. This has been the design of the Office, through Special Agent Kelsey, in expending the money thus appropriated--to purchase fertile lands WATKR ON A RESERVATION which were susceptible of division into what the Agent has termed "minute allotments," and to provide systems of irrigation for the lands already set apart to Indians, sufficiently fertile in character yet heretofore barren lor lack of water. I shall now set out the specific purchases of land and irriga tion projects for which the money available has been expended, treating the Indians of the northern and southern parts of the State separately be cause of the diverse conditions prevailing. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INDIANS. Of the Indians in Humboldt county, 33 souls constitute what is known as the Blue Lake Band. In his efforts to procure land for these Indians, the Special Agent met with great difficulty, owing to the fact that the land of Humboldt county is largely barren ridges surrounding small fertile valleys held at $200 per acre and more. At length, however, he succeeded in obtain ing an offer from the Brizzard heirs to sell 29.5 acres of land fairly suitable, and acceptable to the Indians, and this purchase has been authorized at an expenditure of $1500. Landless since the failure of their treaty concluded October 6, 1851, which IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE 5 treaty shared the fate of all others at this time, the Yurok Indians, now known as the Trinidad Band, have dwindled in number until there are left but 36 individuals, two of whom have acquired lands in their own names. Antagonistic to the other Indians in Humboldt county, it has been necessary to provide for them separately. To this end Agent Kelsey has induced the Vance Redwood Lumber Company to sell to the Government 59.92 acres of land for $1200, and authority for the purchase has issued. The land is fair; with an annual rainfall of 80 inches, there is no irrigation problem, and the fact that it borders on the ocean works to the happiness of this fish- loving tribe. In lower Eel River Valley, in Humboldt county, are to be found 88 Indians who are the remnants of three or four bands once populous and representing two diverse stocks of the race, always inimical. For this reason it has been thought not feasible to attempt to assemble them upon one tract of land; but, instead, the purpose is to buy two, and possibly three, pieces of land in Eel River Valley. The purchase of one tract of 80 acres is practically closed Ox AGUA CAIJENTK RKSKRVATION at a cost of $3000, and the land thus acquired from Patrick Quinn is of such good quality that it is thoifght eight or ten families can be allotted thereon. From time immemorial the Colusa Band of Indians has lived along the Sacramento River in Colusa county. They ceded their lands to the United States by a treaty concluded September 9, 1851, and were to receive in return a large quantity of goods and to have reserved along the river a tract of 20,000 acres. This treaty, like many others with California Indians, failed in the Senate, and the Indians received nothing, yet lost their lands. At this time they numbered 1000; now only 60 remain. They have been living in two small bands, grudgingly tolerated on fractions of two large ranches. The smaller band has been enclosed in a barbed-wire fence on their burial mound, their only water being from a ten-foot well sunk among the graves. As a foothold, and, it is hoped, a stop to the extinction so rapidly pro gressing under their harassment, there has been purchased for this band from Jeremiah Moynihan 40 acres of land, said to be the equal of any in Colusa county, at a cost of $3800. For as long as history traces them, the Cortina Band of Indians has lived 6 IN RE C ALIFORM A INDIANS TO DATE. within what is now Colusa county. Forty-six years ago they were evicted from their original ranchena, but, remaining as close thereto as might be, they settled within a distance of three miles. For this band it has been possible to buy the very land they occupy, and with it enough in addition to make 480 acres, the grantors reserving certain water privileges which will not work to the disadvantage of the Indian occupants. The price agreed upon was $4800. Fencing has cost $300 more. The Indians are better pleased with this arrangement than they would have been with better land elsewhere. Considerable difficulty was encountered in providing for the Indians of the Smith River Band, numbering 246, living in several groups along Smith River in Del Norte county. After the selection of 240 acres of good agri cultural land had been made, a protest was filed on the score that the price to be paid, $7200, was excessive. Investigations covering some months did not sustain this contention, but it did develop that the Indians preferred land on the river or the Pacific Ocean, because, as they said, they had been a fish-eating race from remote ages and did not wish to be deprived of A RESERVOIR ON THE TORRES RESERVATION fishing facilities. Accordingly, a new selection was made of 163.96 acres belonging to Mr. William Westbrook, which was purchased at the same cost. The Indians express complete satisfaction with this latest provision. The Indians of the Pollasky or Millerton Band, living near Pollasky, Fresno county, numbering 33, have been accustomed to eke out their attempts to support themselves by agrir-.ilture, with tribute levied upon the salmon of the San Joaquin River. This largely influenced the purchase for them ot 140 acres belonging to Mr. Adam Bellinger across the river in Madera county, at a cost of $150x3. This tract contains garden land, 80 acres of hay land and pasturage, and wood in abundance. In addition there has been withdrawn from all forms of settlement for the benefit of these Indians 80 acres of Government land adjoining that purchase, making a total area for their use of 220 acres. When the white man came to the present Siskiyou county he found living- there Ruffy's Band, who are descendants of Indians who had occupied the same spot from time primeval. When consideration is had of the devotion of the Indian to his ancestral home, however barren or desolate, it is a IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE 7 matter for felicitation that Agent Kelsey succeeded in negotiating success fully for the very land which has been the home of this band for so long the more so as the land is of good quality. This was accomplished through the purchase of 441 acres from the Central Pacific Railroad Company at a cost of only $2205. The 42 Indians of this band thus acquired legitimate title to their dwelling places. Beneficiaries of the largess of the Roman Catholic Bishop of San Fran cisco, the 120 Indians constituting what is known as the Hopland Band, have been living for some years on an eight-acre tract belonging to that prelate, near the village of Hopland, in Mendocino county. Most of the land in the vicinity is held in large tracts, the owners of which do not care to subdivide. The Special Agent for the California Indians, however, succeeded in purchasing 630 acres from Mr. Jesse W. Daw at a cost of $5750. This land is about a mile in a direct line from the old village, and the Indians had expressed their willingness to accept allotments thereon. The ranch is wholly fenced, and adjoins some very poor Government land which it is INDIAN FARM AT AT^AMO BONITA the purpose of the Office to have set aside for such use as the Indians can make of it. The Daw tract contains 200 acres suitable for hay, grain, fruit and vines, and has springs, woods and pastures. When, some years ago, the 18 Indians constituting what is known as the Point Arena Band, in Mendocino county, were evicted from their homes on the Bree Ranch, a temporary home on a 4O-acre tract on the Garcia River was provided by the Northern California Indian Association. This land is claimed by Mr. Bree, and, even if possession might be retained, is ill suited for the occupancy of the Indians because the river bed occupies half the tract and the remainder is mostly steep banks and bluffs, without pasture, wood, or garden soil. Through Agent Kelsey arrangements have been com pleted for the purchase from W. E. Foster of 35 acres adjoining the present village. On this land is a strip of timber estimated to contain 2500 railroad ties worth 50 cents apiece. In addition, there is hay and garden land, and four acres are now in alfalfa. The price to be paid, and for which authority has issued, is $2625. This land adjoins some on which there is a day school 8 IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. for Indians, and thus is obviated the necessity of moving either Indians or school. Near Laytonville, in Mendocino county, has been for some time the home of what is known as the Cahto Band of Indians, numbering 88. Yet when it was learned that the Government designed buying a home for the Indians, the owners of the hills where they lived placed a prohibitive price thereon. With the approval of the Indians, therefore, arrangements were made for purchasing 200 acres of good land, well improved, not far distant from their present home, from J. H. Braden, at a cost of $2500. Two bearing orchards are secured by this purchase. Living for 50 years or more on the Phelan Ranch, a part of the original Guenoc Rancho, in Lake county, the band of Indians, now 51 strong, vari ously known as the Guenoc, Loconomi or Millerton Band, have come to feel the strongest attachment therefor. It was not possible to buy the precise tract on which their homes are, but the Central Counties Land Company has agreed to sell 45 acres adjoining for $2000, which is considered reasonable for the quality of the land secured. The Indians having expressed a willing ness to accept small allotments on the land to be acquired, authority has been obtained for concluding the purchase. The largest rancheria in California, that of the Upper Land Band, in Lake county, has been the worst example of over-crowding, notwithstanding the fact that this is one of the few bands owning land, they having title to 92 acres which they were persuaded by a Methodist minister to purchase years ago when land was cheap. This over-crowded condition was due partly to the size of the band, which now numbers 284, and partly to the topography of the land, which required the Indians to group their dwellings on the steep hill-sides surrounding a few acres of arable land. The Office has felt war ranted in recommending an expenditure of $5000 for this band, because for that sum it is to procure from Charles C. Hardesty 143.69 acres of land adjoining the rancheria, much of which is of the best quality, and the re mainder contains a good stand of timber and affords an excellent site for a day school which it is proposed to establish. As the lands of the Indians and thiat to be bought are contiguous, no problem as to moving the Indians is to be encountered. In a fairly good fruit district, with springs and a fine orange grove, the 74 acres of land now under purchase from W. B. and Mary A. Bayley will provide a good home for the 26 Indians known as the Rumsey Band, in Yolo county. It is even thought that relatives of this band in Colusa county may wish to come here. The price of $2000, which has been set aside to complete this purchase, is considered reasonable. On the bottom lands of Stony Creek, opposite the mouth of Grindstone Creek whence the name for 60 years have lived the Indians of the Grind stone Band, in Glenn county, now composed of 17 families, or 40 individuals. At present forlorn and poverty-stricken, because of lack of irrigation facili ties, their condition will shortly change as a result of the purchase under way for them, for the land so acquired will become valuable and productive after the completion of the Orland project of the Reclamation Service, it was thought the part of wisdom to anticipate this event, and authority has been granted for the purchase of 80 acres at a cost of $1050. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INDIANS. The problem in Southern California has been to make productive and comfortable the various small and barren reservations on which the Indians of this section of the State are for the most part settled. In an effort IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE 9 toward its solution, expenditures have been divided between the purchase of contiguous land of better quality and the irrigation of the lands already reserved. For years a controversy was waged between this Office and Burleigh B. Barney concerning the rights to the water which was absolutely essential to the welfare of the 40 Indians on the Palm Springs or Ag-ua Calient e Res ervation No. 2, in Riverside county. Mr. Barney was loath to surrender for the sum this Office was warranted in expending for his project, called the "Garden of Eden," to which he had devoted years of time and considerable money. At length, however, he consented to accept $6000 for a section ot land and his water rights, the latter being the main desideratum. By this expenditure the Indians of this band have had restored to them the water carried by Barney's eight-inch pipe line, and in addition a section of land on which to use the water. The title to all the lands on the Morongo Reservation vests in the United States, except that to ten acres occupied by a Mrs. Toutaine. a white woman. ENTRANCE TO INFILTRATION GAIJ V ERY AT SAN MANUEL, It was thought advisable to acquire title to this ten-acre lot before allotting these Indians, and as amply sufficient to that end the sum of $1200 was set aside. However, as this woman stoutly refuses to part with her rights for less than $20,000, this deal will fail of consummation. The 640 acres constituting the original San Manuel Reservation is perhaps the most worthless in the State, consisting of steep, barren hills. So poor is the land that the Indians have been compelled to raise their little crops on adjacent tracts, for the land contiguous to the reservation is often as productive as the Indian land is sterile. For this reason it has been possible to acquire lands suitable for raising vegetables and fruits by the purchase ot two small tracts of land, aggregating less than 13 acres, from Messrs. McClel- lan Yorke and R. L. Rutherford, at a cost of $1915. By this transaction the Indians have been given title to the land containing their graveyard always of supreme importance to this race. Examination of the records of the Land Office disclosed the fact that more than 1000 acres of the San Jacinto Reservation has been patented to the Southern Pacific Railway as a part of its land grant, probably through 10 IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. inadvertence, the Indians having at all times been in possession. There being no land available to make good the loss which never could be satisfactorily explained to the Indians, should possession be insisted upon by the railroad company, steps have been taken to re-acquire this land, as well as numerous other small tracts enjoyed by the. Indians in various localities also patented to the railroad company, by exchanging therefor Indian lands for which there is less need. The Pechanga Reservation, although it looks large on paper, is composed of low, rough, barren hills. The only land that can be plowed is in or adjoining the sandy wash, or bed of a mountain torrent running through the reservation. The quality of the soil is very poor and crops have failed about three years in five. The entire arable area does not exceed 250 acres out of 3360 constituting the reservation. Few tracts were for sale, and those on the market were held at prohibitive prices. In spite of these difficulties there has been acquired, substantially fenced, with valuable water rights and with improvements valued at $2500, 235 acres of the best land in Temecula county from Mr. Philip Pohlman, at a cost of $6650. This purchase is pecu liarly practical and satisfactory. A township of land depends for its value upon its location and the char acter of its soil. A township of mountain tops contains as many square miles as any other township, but is not of much use to its owner or occupants. The reservation of Los Coyotes contains nearly a township, but is literally composed of mountain tops of from 4500 to 8000 feet elevation. In the whole reservation are perhaps 275 acres of agricultural land, and most of this was patented to white men before the establishment of the reservation. It is 160 acres of this land within the reservation which has been bought for these Indians from the owner, John Mason, at a cost of only $800. This was a fortunate conclusion in at least one phase, as the Indians the only ones in Southern California showing a belligerent spirit had for some years used this land and had prevented the owner from deriving any benefit there from, they feeling strongly that no one should have been permitted to file on this, the site of their ancient rancheria. In securing their title it is probable that serious trouble has been averted. The straits to which the Indians of the Campo Reservation were forced by the barrenness of their lands is yet fresh in the public mind. No surprise will be manifested, therefore, that the largest area purchased and the greatest expense incurred thus far has been for the benefit of these Indians. It has been possible, by the expenditure of $14,500, to obtain a tract of land that seems admirably adapted to the purpose of redeeming from extreme poverty the 165 Indians who constitute the population of the Campo Reservations. Several parcels of land were offered and an inspection was made of the whole field. The site finally selected is what is known as the "Becker Valley,'' with a gravity supply of water sufficient for from ico to 120 acres of hay land and other land of about 300 acres. The actual area purchased is 1040 acres, and comprises three separate purchases of 720 acres from J. P. Becker, 160 acres from Lizzie A. Dyball, and 160 acres from Dora Barry. Evicted years ago from their ancient home by armed court officers, the San Pasqual Indians have died and scattered until only 22 now live in San Diego county. The land taken from them by force now sells for $500 an acre, and more. Seventeen years ago they were given a reservation, but the surveyor made a mistake in the township number, and the Executive Order consequently gave them land six miles from where it was intended, and where the Indians were living. The resulting situation is anomalous. To IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE 11 buy the land the Indians are on is out of the question, because of its great value. Most of the land actually reserved for them through this error had been patented already to individuals. Settlers who by chance had not re ceived patents have held their land since under squatters' rights. Among the latter class Wilburn Reed has been conspicuous, because his has been the strong spirit about which the squatters have grouped in a determination to resist placing the Indians on the lands occupied by them, and because he, by thrift and industry, has made his 160 acres worth, in the estimate of Agent Kelsey, at least $5coo. Most of his tract is in oranges. As a preliminary step to clearing this reservation of adverse occupants, it was necessary to eliminate Reed. He proved to be exceedingly fair, and when it was found that he would transfer his improvements and give a quit claim deed for $1500, authority therefor was promptly procured. It is believed that little difficulty will be encountered in buying out the other settlers as need shall arise to provide for these Indians. The question of the water-supply is vital to almost every inhabitant of Southern California, and an appreciable part of the funds appropriated for *m, PUMPING PLANT AT the California Indians has been expended in this channel; otherwise some of the purchases of land which I have enumerated would have been highly unwise. The Indians of the Pauma Reservation, under the supervision of the agent, even prior to the appropriation for the benefit of the California Indians, had excavated a reservoir of 100 feet diameter at the upper corner of their reser vation, where it may be filled from Pauma Creek. To assist them in their efforts at helping themselves, $438.43 has been devoted to purchasing cement, tools and blasting powder. With their own labor they have completed this important work w 7 ith a trivial expenditure. As a preliminary test of artesian resources on the Morongo Reservation, with a view to making productive the land already reserved and land recently purchased, $500 was devoted to the expense of boring a well. When results have been sufficiently observed, it will be soon enough to judge of the advisability of a larger expenditure along the same lines. The scant water supply on the Cahuilla Reservation made a reservoir essen tial The Indians of their own accord began the construction of a reservoir 12 /A T RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. to store the water of certain living springs on the reservation, and as at Pauma, they were aided by the expenditure of $600 to provide materials and tools. At one time the Indians on the Cabazon Reservation had obtained water from artesian wells, but the tapping of the source by the incoming white settlers in time so reduced the supply of water that all the wells of this section ceased to flow during the season when water is needed. As the whites had resorted to pumps, it was plain the Indians would have to do likewise if they were to get any water. Accordingly authority was granted for the installation of a pumping plant. San Augustine Reservation has never had a water supply, as a consequence of which the Indians accredited to this reservation have left it in large numbers. It was decided to bore wells, but as the flow to be tapped is the same which supplies Cabazon and is subject to the same great demand, it was thought to be the part of wisdom to establish a pumping plant coinci- dentally with the boring. The entire cost of this work on both the Cabazon and the San Augustine Reservations is estimated to come within $2783.65, which sum has been set aside for this purpose. The work is well along toward completion. I have now set forth in detail the various objects for which has been disbursed the money entrusted to my care for the California Indians, except that which has been spent in making effective the various enterprises, as in commissions, recorders' fees, title insurance, surveying and fencing. The money so far expended in these incidental channels and in the payment ot salary, traveling expenses and subsistence of the Special Agent, amounts to $12,965.45, and there are outstanding obligations against this fund for similar purposes amounting to $3/81.10. A recapitulation of the purchase of ihe lands which I have outlined shows $80,787.98 to have been expended or authorized for this purpose, and the amount expended or authorized to be expended for irrigation purposes amounts to $8426.03. This makes a total expended or set aside for different projects of $105,960.56, leaving on this date a balance available of $44,049.44. This very inadequate sum it will be the effort of the Office to expend to the best advantage upon the Indians in California yet unprovided for. of which the most needy bands are reported by the Special Agent to be located as follows : Crescent City, Del Norte county; Lolitia, Bucksport, and at the mouth of the Mad River, in Humboldt county ; Sherwood, De Haven, Westport, Ft. Bragg, Noyo and Potter Valley, in Mendocino county; Stewart's Point. Dry Creek, Cloverdale, Sebastopol and Bolinas, in Sonoma county; Lakeport and Silver Bank, in Lake county; Paskenta, in Tehama county; Elk Creek, in Glenn county ; lone, Rickey and Jackson Valley, in Amador county ; Lemoore, in Kings county ; Sanger, in Fresno county ; Mariposa, in Mariposa county : Groveland, Cherokee and Tuolumne, in Tuolumne county; Murphey's and Sheep Ranch, in Calaveras county; Nashville, in Eldorado county. I shall not attempt to outline the various ways in which the Office has supplemented the expenditure of this money by devices actuated by its wish to help the Indians in every possible manner. I may say, however, that conspicuous, perhaps paramount, among these policies has been the temporary withdrawal from all forms of settlement of all unappropriated lands in the vicinity of the various reservations and the villages and rancherias of the isolated bands ; so that when accurate descriptions shall have been obtained and local conditions fullv ascertained, such of these lands as could be ot IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE 13 service to the Indians may be patented to them and the remainder restored to the public domain. Very respectfully, F. E. LEUPP, Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. SAN JOSE, CALIF., Nov. 10, 1908. WAYLAND H. SMITH. Dear Sir: Yours of the 2nd duly received. I enclose you herewith a sort of statement of what has been done in Southern California in the last three years (somewhat less). I have tried to make it as brief as possible, and still it is quite extensive. The most important thing remaining is the establishment at Campo. The last tract there and the one we had to have was not finally through until about June. It belonged to an estate with minor heirs and it took time. The new reservation has been included within the National Forest, which will make it much easier getting along with the A TORRKS FARMER AT WORK cattle-men. Another year ought to have about everything done on the Southern reservations (that at present seems advisable, though new needs may develop with time). There is quite a list of other things I have been in touch with in the South in the way of investigations, reports, settlements, etc., that have not eventuated in any definite thing mentioned as accom plished, but have nevertheless taken a good deal of my time. Very truly, C. E. KELSEY. Bancroft Library INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOM PLISHED IN THE LAST THREE YEARS. The first thing requisite was a careful examination of the thirty-four, more or less, minute tracts in Southern California which have been set aside for Indian use. This examination revealed many things. All the reserva tions were more or less barren. Few had any adequate water supply, and most had none. There were twenty cases of disputed boundaries, and no less than thirteen cases where Indians were found to be wholly or in part 14 /A r RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. outside the tract actually reserved, through errors in surveys and location. To meet these cases Congress passed an Act, largely through the efforts of Senator Flint, amending the Act of 1891, and authorizing the land occupied by the Indians in such cases to be patented to them, where the title was still in the Government. At Campo several tracts have been purchased, aggregating about 1200 acres, and the land is ready for occupancy. The first unit of the irrigation system has been surveyed, and it is expected work will begin in a short time. The surrounding government land as far north as the reservations of La Posta and Manzanlta, and south to the Mexican line, has been reserved, forming a consolidated reservation of about 20,000 acres. As soon as the irrigation work is under way, the Indians can remove to their new homes, and it is expected that a Government day school will be established. The site of the new school is that of a former large Indian settlement, and is called by the Indians Hilth-la-wa, meaning "wedge-shaped," in reference to the shape of the valley. At Campo proper, some land has been added to the reservation upon which the Indian graveyard is located and upon which part of the band was living. The same is true of La Posta, Manzanita and Cuiapaipc. The reservation patented at La Posta was a pile of barren rocks, and the land the Indians actually occupied was unprotected. At Laguna one forty-acre tract was added. At Inyaha a tract was added to the reservation to give the Indians some hay-land, some wood-land and some pasture. At Capitan Grande some tracts were added to the reservation which had been thrown out through error. At the eastern end of Capitan Grande, known as Los Conejos, additions of arable land occupied by Indians were made to the reservation, and other lands to protect the water-rights of the Indians. At Los Coyotes Reservation a tract of land which had been in private ownership since before the establishment of the reservation, and which had been the cause of much friction, was purchased. At Pachanga, near Temecula, where the land is particularly barren and the water supply very scanty, 235 acres of splendid land has been purchased. This was some of the land from which these Indians were ejected, much as told in Ramona. It was planned to pipe the water from a spring to the school for school and Indian use, but the water proved to be too scanty in supply to justify the expense. Two wells have been bored on the old reservation and one upon the new tract, the latter being the only one to show a satis factory supply. At Pauma the reservoir has been considerably enlarged and put into con dition so it will be of some use. At Pala the former error in locating the headgate has been corrected and proper outlets have been made by which water can be taken from the main ditch. The expense of this irrigating plant is now nearly $30,000. The Santa Rosa Indians have asked for and are to receive their old home at Vandeventer Flat, called by them Se-o-ya ("Pleasant View"). Land has been reserved for them here, and water sufficient for present needs appro priated. At Cahuilla the reservoir has been much enlarged and water prospected for in other parts of the reservation, with, as yet, little success. At Saboba plans are being made for a considerable increase in the water supply. At San Manuel two tracts were purchased, one containing the former gardens of the Indians, and the other their graveyard and some of the houses. IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. 15 At Morongo a rather extensive system of water development has been planned which will largely increase the value of the reservation. Some additions have recently been made to the reservation. At Mission Creek Reservation a small water system is to be put in and a survey made of the reservation line. At Palm Springs the adverse water rights and two sections of land have been purchased, and all "land upon which it would be possible to use any of the Indian water has been set aside for the Indians. They now have all the land and the water, practically, and further troubles are unlikely. At Cabazon a fine gasoline pumping-plant has been put in, which did good service last year. Its capacity is now being enlarged. A new day school has been established at Cabazon. At San Augustin an artesian well was put in last year with an auxiliary pumping-plant, and it did good service. This is also being enlarged this season. This fine section was without water prior to boring the well. At Torres, Martinez and Alamo Bonito about forty new wells are now being bored, in addition to the twenty-two bored by the Government six years ARTESIAX \VEi,r v ox TORRES RESERVATION ago. A couple of steam pumping-plants are to be put in on the higher levels. In no place is so small an amount of money doing so much good as that used in putting down these wells in this so-called desert. In no place are the Indians making better use of their water, and their present condition of thrift is in striking contrast to their situation of squalor and semi-starvation before they were supplied with water. All these various irrigation developments are entirely under the supervision of and are planned by the Irrigation Division of the Indian Bureau, of which W. H. Code, of Hollywood, is Chief Engineer, and of which Charles R. Olberg, Superintendent of Irrigation for California, at Los Angeles, is directly in charge. At Santa Yncz the perplexing questions as to boundary lines and status of the Indian title have all been satisfactorily settled, largely through ihe broad-minded generosity of the late Bishop Montgomery. The Indians of San Pascual had a reservation assigned to them, but an error was made in the description of the township and the land actually reserved for them was six miles north of the one intended. In the meantime 16 /A T RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. nothing of value was left in the intended reservation, and several would-be settlers were prevented from filing on their claims on the other tract actually reserved. It proved impossible to secure any tract in the San Pascual Valley at any reasonable price, but it has been possible to buy one or two intending settlers on the actual reservation, and this, with some unoccupied land there, satisfactory to the Indians, will give the San Pascual Indians homes at last. The lands of the Chimehuevi Indians on the Colorado River were threat ened by prospective settlers, and their lands have been reserved to them by executive order, pending an examination as to their needs, which examination has not as yet been made. A considerable number of the boundary troubles have been decided. A re-survey and re-marking of the reservation lines in Southern California has been arranged for and will doubtless be completed within the coming year. The examination of the lines at Mesa Grande has been finished, and that perplexing matter settled for all time. It has not been possible to examine all the reservations as yet. C. E. KELSEY, Special Indian Commissioner for California. Under instruction from Mr. W. H. Code, Chief Engineer in the Indian Service, Mr. C. R. Olberg, Superintendent of Irrigation, has prepared the following statement of the actual work begun or com pleted in Southern California by the Engineering Department dur ing 1908: CHIEF ENGINEER'S REPORT FOR 1908. The Indian Reservations of Southern California number approximately thirty separate bodies of land, and while they are comparatively small indi vidually, collectively they form quite an area. They are fairly well dis tributed over the map of Southern California, and the water problems of each, of course, partake of the character of the territory in which it is located. During the last year, work has been undertaken to better the water condi tions on nine of these small reservations, and surveys and estimates have been made for future work on others. The reservations that have recently benefited by the policy of the Government to enable the Indians to help them selves are Pala, Pechanga, Soboba, Morongo, Torres, Cabezon, Augustine, Agua Caliente and Campo. At Pala a number of concrete lateral turnouts were installed on the canal recently constructed to irrigate the four hundred irrigable acres of the reser vation. This work was not done when the canal was constructed, owing to a lack of funds. The Pala Reservation is occupied jointly by the so-called Warner Ranch Indians, who were moved to Pala several years ago from Warner's Ranch, and a few old Pala Indians. The Indians naturally experience considerable difficulty in getting the water from the canal on to their land, owing to the lack of turnouts, and there was much complaint from the Warner Ranch Indians on that account. The turnouts were completed early in February, 1908, and during the summer the entire four hundred acres were planted and irrigated by the Indians, who raised good crops thereon. The Pechanga Reservation is a small body of land lying in the foothills about six miles southeast of Temecula. Formerly these Indians occupied the Temecula Valley, but they were gradually crowded out, as has been graphically -depicted by Mrs. Helen Hunt Jackson in her book "Ramona," and were IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. 17 eventually allotted the land at present held by them. This land lies too high for irrigation, and in seasons of little water, even drinking water was hard to obtain. Fortunately part of the reservation is excellent grain land, the area of which has recently been increased by the purchase of a tract lying south of the reservation, by Special Agent Kelsey. The water supply of the reservation consisted of several small wells, which failed in time of drought, and a small spring up a side canon, about three miles from the Indian settlement. It was at first contemplated to pipe the water from this spring to the village, but investigation showed that the flow, was too small for that purpose. Three twelve-inch wells were then driven to such a depth as to insure a permanent supply. One of these was at the school, another half a mile above the school, to supply the Indians residing in that vicinity, and a third on the tract recently purchased. Three large windmills, and accompanying tanks and towers, have been erected. Pro vision has been made to enable the Indians to obtain water both for domestic supply and for the watering of stock. These Indians are now secure as far as water for domestic and stock pur poses is concerned. Unfortunately the water lies at too great a depth in the two upper wells to permit pumping for irrigation, but it may be financially practical to pump sufficient from the lower well to water a small garden. On the Saboba Reservation, which lies on the outskirts of San Jacinto, on the river of the same name, the Indians have for a long time been irrigating the fields from a small reservoir, which collected the water from a number of small springs. In dry seasons these springs went dry and the Indians were without water for the two or three hundred acres of valuable land lying below. The only solution was a pumping plant, and last fall a battery of three twelve- inch wells was driven near the upper end of the reservoir, and a centrifugal pump and fittings have recently been installed over these wells. The recent heavy rains, causing a rise in the San Jacinto River, have delayed operations somewhat, but it is hoped to complete the plant in the near future. From recent tests made on the wells, the plant should deliver an ample supply of water for the Indian lands. Part of the irrigable land is subject to overflow from the San Jacinto River, and funds are now available and work will soon be commenced on the con- 18 IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. struction of a dike to control the same. With the protection of this dike and assured of an ample water supply, located as they are, close to the town of San Jacinto, these Indians should become exceedingly prosperous. On the Morongo Indian Reservation, near Banning, work was commenced last December and is still in progress. This consists of running an infiltra tion gallery up the bed of Potrero Creek, for the purpose of increasing the flow from that stream and a cienega lying in the valley. Cement-lined ditches will also be constructed to conduct the water to the irrigable lands. A very fair flow of water is obtainable at this point, and the work will probably take several months to complete. The Torres Indian Reservation is located on the so-called desert near the Salton Sea. About seven years ago a number of artesian wells were put in on this reservation, and during the last year about fifteen additional wells have been added to these, increasing very materially the available water supply at the command of the industrious Indians of this reservation. The fertility of the soil, its productiveness under irrigation, and especially its ability to PAT.A MISSION grow early melons, etc., bid fair to place the Torres Indians on the road to competence. At Cabezon and Augustine, which lie in the same valley as the Torres Reservation, the land generally lies above the artesian belt, and pumping plants have to be resorted to in order to obtain water for irrigation purposes. Several wells have been drilled during the last year, and the two pumping stations previously installed have been enlarged and their discharge largely increased. At Agua Caliente, which is close to Palm Springs, on the Conchilla Desert, a pipe line, leading from the Andreas Canon, was purchased from B. B. Barney about a year ago. It is proposed to convey the water, delivered by this pipe line, through either a cement-lined ditch or a small concrete pipe line to the land belonging to the Indians. The soil in this section is good and only needs the application of water to produce bounteous crops. Surveys have already been made and the work will shortly be commenced and pushed to completion as rapidly as possible. There are a number of Indians living at Campo, near the border line of Mexico, in San Diego County, California. This was brought to the atten- ' tion of the proper authorities, and recently quite a body of grazing land has IN RE CALIFORNIA INDIANS TO DATE. 19 INDIANS BUILDING IRRIGATING DITCH been set aside and a couple of small ranches, with an available water supply, have been purchased for their benefit. Surveys have been made and work will shortly be commenced on the construction of either small ditches or small pipe lines to irrigate these ranches. With these two ranches under irri gation, and the adjoining land available as a cattle range, the Indians should shortly become well-to-do. The great diversity of the character of work on these reservations is evi dent from the foregoing synopsis. While they are small, the water problems are, in a number of instances, as difficult of solution as those of the larger reservations of the north. These problems are being constantly brought to the attention of the Chief Engineer through the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and are taken up in that order. Work is contemplated on the Santa Ynez, the San Manuel and several other reservations, and it is hoped that in a comparatively short time all the Indians of Southern California will be as prosperous as the nature of their respective reservations will permit. C. R. OLBERG, Superintendent of Irrigation. From "Out West," February-March, 1909