munity, and made them indifferent to effort and improvement. The return of their young men from the war had also had a demoralizing effect, Drunken frays were not uncommon, in which deadly weapons were used, spite of the Department's regulations for disarming all Indians.
In July of this year the Delaware chiefs, distressed by this state of affairs, drew up for their nation a code of laws which compare favorably with the laws of so-called civilized States.[1]
In 1867 the Delawares are said to be “very impatient to be gone from their reserve, in order to build houses this autumn for winter use, and to be fencing fields for the ensuing year at their new reserve.” The annuities due them in April of this year have not been paid till autumn, and this has delayed their movements. Many of the young men are still away, acting as scouts and guides in the army. In the course of this year and the next the whole tribe moved by detachments to their new home. “Those who removed during the winter went to work in a laudable manner, and made their improvements—many building comfortable houses and raising respectable crops” the first season. They are said to be now in a fair way to be better off than ever before. They have “given up their tribal organization and become Cherokee citizens. They report that they are well pleased with their new homes; and, being separated from the many temptations by which they were surrounded in their old reservation, are learning to appreciate the many benefits to be derived from leading a temperate, industrious, and consequently a prosperous and happy life.”
In 1869 it is said that, “as soon as the final arrangement relative to their funds is perfected, they will lose their nationality and become identified with the Cherokees.”
In 1870 we find nearly all the Delawares in Indian Territory; but it seems that, owing to a carelessly surveyed boundary, some
- ↑ See Appendix, Art. 8.
