REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. XXXIX 
Colorado reported that it would be impossible for him to keep his In- 
dians on the reservation with the small amount of supplies furnished 
him by the Department from the appropriation of $50,000 made by Con- 
gress for the fiscal year 1886 for all theUtes; that if additional supplies

were not furnished depredations would be committed, &c. The War 
Department also reported that the supplies to be furnsished were not 
sufficient,-and it was insisted on that at least 10,000 pounds of beef and

3,000 pounds of flour per week be furnished the agent. Under these cir- 
cumstances, after nsing up the share belonging to the Southern Utes of the

$25,000 per annum due the Utes as interest under the treaty of April 29,

1874, a request was made by this office to divert the sum of $10,000 from

the appropriation, support of Apaches in Arizona and New Mexico, for 
the purchase of additional beef and flour for the Southern Utes; and the

President, on your recommendation, having given his approval of the 
diversion, sufficient supplies will be furnished the agent to enable him

to keep his Indians on the reservation. In my estimate for the fiscal 
year 1887 I have asked for the sum of $60,000, the amount formerly 
granted, and I hope Congress will see the necessity for this increased 
appropriation and will grant the same. 
Through similar action, distress and, as the agent reported, war was 
prevented at the Shoshone Agency in Wyoming, where part of the 
Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes and the Shoshones are located. 
Under article 6 of the treaty of May 10, 1868, and agreement with the 
Sioux Indians approved February 28, 1877, Congress in former yeara 
appropriated annually for the Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes 
$35,000, to be expended for such articles as from time to time the con- 
dition and necessities of the Indians might indicate to be proper. The 
whole amount was then expended for those located at the Shoshone 
Agency in Wyoming. 
Several years ago, a number of- Northern Cheyennes, parties to the 
above-mentioned treaty, left their agency and went to settle near the 
Rosebud and Tongue Rivers in Montana. Two years ago Congress re- 
duced the Above-mentioned appropriation of $35,000 to $25,000, and 
also provided that this amount should be expended pro rata, as near as. 
might be, for the Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes in Wyoming, and 
on the Tongue River in Montana. In consequence of the reduction 
made by Congress of the amount appropriated, and the division of 
this amount between those in Wyoming and those in Montana, their ra- 
tions had to be reduced more than one-half, and the only way to pro- 
vide them with the amount of beef and flour absolutely necessary was. 
again to have recourse to section 4, above mentioned. A diversion of 
$7,000 from the appropriation made for the support of the Arapahoes, 
Cheyennes, Apaches, Kiowas, Comanches, and Wichitas was made, and 
additional supplies, which it is thought will prove sufficient, have been.

ordered under existing contracts. 
I am happy to state that the condition of the Indians in Montana, who- 
no" doubt, were starving during the winters of 1883 and 1884, especially