MF1323.1197 Reel 39_1183

California W63 Austin Wiley San Francisco, Cal Sept 1, '64

Submits his Annual Report, together with sketches of the Indian Reservations in California and reports of farming operations &c

Ack c/y Div. & contents Entd Oct. 1. Ray Copied E Mr Ray Annual Sketches to Draughtsman See me

[ink stamp] RECEIVED AT THE Sept 27 1864 INDIAN BUREAU

Office of Indian Affairs San Francisco Cal September 1st 1864

Sir: In compliance with your instructions of 23d May last, in reference to the annual report of the condition of Indian Affairs in this Superintendency, I have the honor to forward as complete a return as the limited time at my disposal will allow me to compile.

I have occupied my present position only since the 26th of May and much of my time has been employed in receiving the property from my predecessors and in effecting such change as the good of the service seemed most urgently to demand.

I have communicated freely with the Dept and endeavored to inform you as fully as possible of the condition in which I found Indian Affairs and of my action in relation thereto, as well as proposed plans for the future. I deem a repetition of these matters to be unnecessary and shall confine this report to a general account of the location and character of he several Reservations, the number and condition of the Indians thereon, and of farming operations during the year.

I accompany this with sketches of the four Reservations within my Superintendency, from which you can form a general idea of their situation and extent, the position of the improvements &c.

Please find also a statistical report of farming

operations as required by your circular of Jan 11th 1862, and a report of the number of Indians &c as required by circular of June 21st 1861. As regards the latter, I regret to state that I am unable to furnish any replies to the questions in that circular from four to eleven inclusive as nothing of any consequence has been done toward the education or religious instruction of the Indians. Of affairs in general, I am able to say, that in consideration of all the circumstances, and of the difficulties that met me upon assuming charge of the Superintendency, they are prosperous and progressing satisfactorily.

The condition of Indian affairs in the Counties of Humboldt, Klamath and Trinity most earnestly demanded my attention upon entering upon the discharge of my duties. This section of country had been cursed for years with a destructive Indian war that had well nigh ruined its business interests, and promised to end only in the extermination of the Indians.

A vigorous campaign accompanied by great loss of life had been waged during the past year, and the Indians though severly dealt with, were still unsubdued but through the efforts of the Dist Commander had ceased hostilities and came in to Hoopa Valley, the home of most of the warriors, where with their arms still in their possession, they were waiting some action on the part of Government toward establishing a treaty.

It had been the hope of the people of this section, as well as the military authorities, that these Indians might be removed to some point South of San Francisco, as sad experience and a knowledge of their character convinced all, that they would not remain on any Reservation unless its natural situation rendered it utterly impossible for them to return.

In this hope I earnestly shared, and in letters to the Dept urged in the strongest terms that such a course be adopted, but permission to carry out this policy having been denied, it only remained to adopt the next best course, and I at once proceeded to Hoopa Valley to treat with the Indians. Of my action there, resulting in the establishment of a Reservation in Hoopa Valley and the surrender of their arms by the Indians, you were fully advised in my letter of the 29th ult. I am confident that if my course be approved, and Govt act in good faith with the Indians that no further trouble will ensue. In this connection, I would suggest that when the improvements of the settlers are apppraised, that their farming implements and such other articles as may be required on the Reservation be included, and paid for out of the same appropriation. I urge this as a matter of justice to all concerned for they will be needed in the cultivation of the land, and will be worthless to their present owners.

Smith River Reservation is situated in the valley of the same name, in the extreme Northern part of the State and about two miles from the coast. There are at present seven hundred and forty-five Indians at this agency, most of whom have been removed from the bald hills and the vicinity of Eel and Mad Rivers in Humboldt Co. Their general condition is good, though they are suffering somewhat from lack of blankets and proper clothing, which I shall be able to supply upon the arrival of the expected shipment. There are twenty-eight Indian houses made of sawed lumber twelve by sixteen feet in size, which are good comfortable buildings. These are occupied by the Humboldt Indians, while the Bald Hill and Bear River tribes live in rude huts of their own construction. The mortality among the latter is very large and they must be provided with better shelter before winter, and receive in future more care and attention. The land on which this Reservation is established is at present rented from different individuals at from four to five dollars an acre per annum for the land actually cultivated. The buildings are on the farm of D.E. Buell, which contains some eleven hundred acres, two hundred and twenty of which are cultivated. Upon this farm is quite a fine orchard which will produce this