32                REPORTS OF AGENTS IN DAKOTA. 
In conclusion I desire to acknowledge the support and assistance rendered
to me by 
the staff of employ6s at this agency, and the uniform, prompt, and courteous
consid- 
eration received by me in all my intercourse with the Indian Office. 
Very respectfully submitted. 
ABRAM J. GIFFORD, 
United States Indian Agent. 
The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 
INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL, FORT STEVENSON, DAK., 
Augu8t 24, 1885. 
SIR: I herewith submit the annual report of this school for the year ending
July 1, 
1885. The average attendance during this year has been 56. The school now
num- 
bers 75. The repairs of last December have caused great improvement in facilities

and accommodations, and both school and pupils have a much more prosperous
appear- 
ance. Much trouble has been experienced throughout the year by irregularity
in the 
domestic concerns of the school. Employ6s are difficult to obtain and more
difficult to 
retain, owing to the isolated location and small salaries. This department
is at pres- 
ent, however, under excellent management. The matron is a thorough housekeeper,

and has systematized the work so that under her control both girls and employ6s
are 
doing well, with less apparent effort and more order and cleanliness. 
The bread-making is done entirely by the girls, but the boys attend to the
baking. 
In the laundry the girls perform all the manual labor, closely superintended
by the 
laundress. The increase in the ration of soap, with the use of washing soda,
has made 
great improvement in the laundry work, and in this region, where only hard
water 
can be obtained, a more liberal supply would make still greater improvement.

At the beginning of the year no room had been set apart for sewing, and no
regu- 
lar hours employed, and the sewing and mending were much in arrears. After
a sew- 
ing room had been organized and regular hours appointed, the work went on
more 
smoothly, and now a fair amount is accomplished. Girls are detailed in turn
to assist, 
and most of them have learned to darn and mend neatly and to do plain sewing.

All the clothing worn by the girls, with shirts and occasional suits for
the boys, are 
made at the school. 
The dormitories have been made very comfortable, and the apartments devoted
to 
the use of the girls are especially so. Sitting-room, wash-room, and dormitory
open 
out of one another, and have been made as attractive and homelike as possible
with 
the means afforded, and are a great contrast to their recent dilapidated
and crowded 
quarters, a difference fully appreciated by the children themselves. 
The work in garden and field is accomplished by the boys, under the active
super- 
intendence of the industrial teacher. There are 40 acres of ground under
cultivation, 
and some of the larger boys are making good field hands, and are certainly
gather- 
ing a stock of information and experience which will be invaluable to them
in the 
future, when we hope to see them settling upon and working their own farms.

In the class-rooms the children are making very fair progress, an I in order
and dis- 
cipline will compare favorably with the generality of children in public
schools. 
They are very much interested in their studies, and when the disadvantages
under 
which they labor (language and home influence) are taken into consideration,
the prog- 
ress which they make is often wonderful. The children are detailed to the
indus- 
trial pursuits by classes, each class being in school three days one week
and two 
days the next, which is found to work more to their advantage than the half-day
sys- 
tem which was tried at the beginning of the year. 
MARY U. SLEIGHT, 
Teacher. 
Mr. A. J. GIFFORD, 
U. S. lndian Agent, Fort Berthold, Dak. 
FORT BERTHOLD, DAK., August 25, 1885. 
DEAR SIR: The report we have to make of missionary work at this agency for
the 
past fiscal year is very encouraging. There has been more interest than ever
before 
in both school and church, and the people have evidently made great advance.

There has been an average of 79j attendance at church for each Sabbath of
the 
year, there being two and sometimes three meetings on each Sabbath. There
are 
eight church members here and two absent, four white and four Indian; one
of these 
united during the year. The exercises are conducted in three languages, and
some- 
times a fourth is used; the singing being mainly in English, which some of
the