206              REPORTS OF AGENTS IN         WISCONSIN. 
Orchard party: 
Men----------------------------------------------------------53 
W om en.. . . .  .  . . .  . . . .  .  . . .  . . . .  .  . . .  52 
Children----------------------.-----------------------------------101 
Total...............................................................206 
Total.    .    .      .   .     .     .    .      ..------------------------------------------------------654

By the terms of the treaty above referred to these bands of Oneidas were
entitled 
to a reserve consisting of a sufficient amount of land to give each person
100 acres, 
which was then given them, with an excess of 140 acres in their present reserve.
The 
present census shows that the tribe now numbers 1,595. This increase of 941
since 
the census of January, 1839, by Commissioner Baird, includes the emigrants
from 
Canada and New York that have been adopted into the tribe, as well as the
natural 
increase. A considerable number of Oneidas, emigrants from the latter-named
places, 
called "Homeless" by way of distinction, reside npon the reerve,
and are not in- 
cluded in the above census, numbering, it is estimated, about 200. They are
scat- 
tered over the reserve, occupying lands here and there, and in many instances
have 
intermarried with members of the tribe proper. The fact that some persons
similarly 
situated have been taken into the tribe and permitted to share in its rights
and priv- 
ileges futnishes to their minds ample grounds for their claims, and the status
of their 
rights on the reserve is a source of considerable annoyance and bickering
among the 
several factions of the tribe. 
There is an abundance of timber on the reserve for all the needs of the tribe,
and 
the soil for the most part is good and well adapted to farm purposes and
is well 
watered. 
Civilization. 
Tlle Indians of this tribe are well advanced in civilization. They all live
in log 
and frame houses, and obtain their living by farming and cutting stave-bolts,
hoop- 
poles, and cord-wood, &c., on the reserve, which they sell at the adjacent
towns. 
Their large and well-tilled fields testify that there are many among them
who will 
compare favorably with their white neighbors as tillers of the soil, and
a bountiful 
harvest is in prospect the present season. 
They receive an annual annuity of $1,000 from the Government, which, being
di- 
vided per capita, amounts to about 60 cents per head. 
They all speak their dialect at home in most instances, and there are very
many 
children and adults among them who cannot speak or understand a word of English.

Churches. 
There are two churches on the reserve, one the Episcopal, the other Methodist.
The 
membership of each church is large, and the moral condition of the Indians
of this 
tribe (considering the starting point) speaks of the good works and wisdom
of those 
called to superintend their management. The pastors of these churches also
act as 
mission school teachers in two of the day schools, receiving an annual salary
of $400 
each from the Government. 
Schools. 
There are six day schools kept in operation on the reserve, with an average
attend- 
ance for the year of 123 pupils, the teachers being furnished by the Government,
also 
the school books and appliances, while the Indi'ans furnish the houses and
necessary 
fuel. "Besides the accommodations thus afforded at home, upwards of
100 pupils from 
this tribe have been provided with schooling away froim the reserve the past
year, 
distributed as follows: Five at the Carlisle, Pa., training school ; fifty
at the Martins- 
burgh, Pa., boarding-school, while over fifty have attended the agency boarding-school.

The readiness with which these people embrace an opportunity to send their
children 
to school shows how they appreciate the privilege, and when we consider that
only 
3 or 4 pupils, at most, from this tribe have been sent away to school prior
to the past 
two years through agency mediation, we can but reflect how shamefully this
interest 
has been neglected. 
THE MENOMONEES. 
The Menomonee reserve consists of ten townships of land, which is mostly
timbered 
with timnler peculiar to the latitude. The soil is good on a portion of the
reserve, 
and, when cleared, well adapted to farm purposes; but the amount of labor
required 
to clear the land and prepare it for cultivation is at present almost an
insurmounta- 
ble barrier to the progress of the Menomonee Indian farmer. AnotheI portion
of the