great number of small tribes and bands in this State—the number of tribes and bands parties to the same treaty being in some cases as high as ten or fifteen—these Indians will be treated of, and the remarks concerning them will be made, under the heads of the agencies at which they are respectively located.
Umatilla Agency.—The tribes located at this agency are the Umatillas, Cayuses, and a portion of the Walla-Wallas, and number 837. They have a reservation of 512,000 acres, situated in the north-eastern part of the State, set apart for them by treaty of June 9th, 1855. This reservation is very fertile, and, as usual in such cases, has attracted the cupidity of the whites. A proposition was made last year, under the authority of Congress, to have the Indians take land in severalty, or sell and remove to some other reservation. The Indians, however, in the exercise of their treaty rights, refused to accede to this proposition. These Indians are successfully engaged in agricultural operations, are nearly self-supporting, and may be considered, comparatively speaking, wealthy. It is gratifying to state that the introduction of whiskey by whites upon this reservation, and its sale to the Indians, has, during the last year, received a decided check through the vigilance of Agent Cornoyer in causing the arrest and trial of four citizens for a violation of the law in this respect. All the parties charged were convicted, and are now in prison, This is especially worthy of note, from the fact that it is always exceedingly difficult to obtain convictions for such dealing with Indians in any section of the country. There is one school in operation on the reservation, with an attendance of twenty-seven scholars.
Warm Spring Agency.—The Indians at this agency, known as the “Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians in Middle Oregon,” comprise seven bands of the Walla-Walla and Wasco tribes, numbering 626. They have a reservation of 1,024,000 acres, located in the central part of the State, set apart for them by the treaty of June 25th, 1855. Though there is but little really good land in this reservation, many of the Indians, by reason of their industry, have succeeded measurably in their farming operations, and may be considered as self-sustaining. In morals they have greatly improved; so that polygamy, the buying and selling of wives, gambling, and drunkenness have ceased to be common among them, as in the past. There re some, however, who are disposed to wander off the reservation and lead a vagabond life. But little advancement has been made in education among these
