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you that my mind has long since been made up that nature intended that valley for a Reservation. Its location in the heart of an Indian country_the fertility of its soil,_ its immense natural resources for indian foods, its remote locality–entirely without the reach of white men or white settlements (providing Government should own the whole of it) all go far towards recommending it as the only suitable place in the northern part of the state adapted for such a purpose. I presume the Department has been advised from time to time by my predecessors of the condition of things there–of the anoyance of settlers who have claims and improvements in the valley, and of their defiant attitude and open hostility to the Government. In a word, steps should be taken at once by the Department to have a survey of this valley made by the Surveyor General and settlement made with the white settlers as is provided for in the Consolidation Act, of April 8th, '64 I believe the valley, or part of it has been surveyed but it would be well to have the work done over so that I may be posted [illegible] the boundaries. Twentyfive thousand acres would cover all the valley and enough of the surrounding mountains to preclude the