182 
 
REPORTS OF AGENTS IN UTAH. 
 
run for the last eight or ten years. I am convinced that no better work is
done to-day 
or can be done than when it first opened. To be sure many are taught to read,
write, 
and spell, but in no one case to my knowledge have the teachings received
at the agency 
school had a tendency to eradicate from the minds of the pupils the superstitions
of the 
tribe. They are so intimately connected with the tribe, even when they are
at school, 
that they know nothing and dare nothing except what their superstitious parents
tell 
them. I advocate sending the children away to school as the only way to make
per- 
manent improvement among them. The Indians send their children to school
reluct- 
antly, more to confer a favor upon the agent, as they think, than from any
good which 
they receive, and if they do not care to send their children to school the
agent is power- 
less to compel it. To be sure we have a police force, but they must necessarily
be in 
sympathy with their tribe. No great good is to be derived from compulsory
attend- 
ance of pupils. 
DRUNKENNESS. 
We have had more trouble from drunken Indians during the past year than ever

before. It is easy for them to obtain whisky. There is constant travel across
the 
reservation. The travelers sell whisky to the Indians, nor do we ever hear
of it 
till they are beyond our reach. One man whom we had arrested for selling
whisky 
to Indians died before the case came before the grand jury; another was indicted,

tried, and acquitted, although we thought we had a clear case against him.

IMPROVEMENTS. 
A large irrigating ditch was built during the past year for the benefit of
the White 
River Utes at a cost of $3,000. This irrigates an immense tract of land and
is proving 
a success beyond my most sanguine expectation. The Indians have built several

quite substantial houses, mostly of sawed logs. 
FREIGHTING. 
The Indians freighted 48,148 pounds of their annuity goods and supplies from
Provo 
City to the agency, about 150 miles, earning $1,444.44. They did all of this
with their 
own teams. Besides, they hauled 30,350 pounds of freight from Salt Lake City
to the 
agency for the traders, for which they were paid 3 cents a pound. They make
careful 
freighters. 
COURT OF INDIAN OFFENSES. 
No court of Indian offenses has been organized as yet. In several cases,
when 
Indians have beea arrested for offenses which would be grievous under white
man's 
law, I have had them tried before a jury of picked Indians, and in every
case they 
acquit the culprit. They dislike to see their friends punished. I have found
by 
experience that it is always best for the agent to take summary measures
against 
offenders. 
INSPECTION. 
We were visited in May by Inspector Robert S. Gardner, who made a careful
inspec- 
tion of this agency, and who I hope gave us credit for some good, 
SANITARY. 
The sanitary condition of these Indians is good. Many of the old Indians
have 
died during the year. There have been 39 deaths and 38 1-irths during the
year. 
The " medicine men" are active and always on hand, but their influence
is not as great 
as formerly. 
CONCLUSION. 
In conclusion, I see no renson why these Indians should not make good progress.

They are well started, and I think fully realize their attitude toward the
Government 
and the people around them, and know that they must sooner or later depend
entirely 
upon their own exertions. It requires great patience to deal with them. They
are 
wards in the true sense of the term. 
My successor has already been appointed, and I expect to be relieved in a
few days. 
I have every reason to thank the Department for the encouragement it has
at all times 
given me in my endeavors to assist the Indians. 
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
ELISHA M. DAVIS, 
United States Indian Agent. 
The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.