Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/107

RECOLLECTIONS OF AN INDIAN AGENT. 99 caused notice to be posted on the ends of the departure from the main road, informing travelers that we could not feed them at the agency without violating the instructions of the Indian Department. This ended the business, and Mr. White resigned his position as superintendent of farming and de- parted for the Auburn mines, leaving his family at the agency. I regretted very much that our ways did not coin- cide, for Mr. White was a genial, kindly man, not at all lack- ing in intelligence, and therefore socially attractive, still, I could not, for a moment, think of cutting loose from all guides of safe conduct. From such incidents, and there were others, I could see and feel how easy it is for even well-disposed persons to depart, little by little, from the true course and soon lose sight of the purpose originally had in view. And how much easier and more certain such a departure becomes when the guiding purpose is vague, or loosely held by the person essay- ing it. With such a torch-light of truth in hand, how ludi- crous is the public expectation that Indians can be brought to take an interest in civilizing pursuits, by persons who never studied the problem of civilization or had any faith that the Indian is susceptible of being anything more than a barbarian. To such people, though commonly honest, working for self- interest is a natural and, I can believe, inevitable diversion. If the Government expected or desired to succeed in civil- izing the aborigines, then the first step was, to select for In- dian agents only those who were experts in the civilizing process ; not mere theorists to be sure, but practical men who had faith that every advance is the result of individual exer- tion of mind and body ; that progress is not to be put on and off like a coat, but consists in doing, in adapting the whole man to his environment. But, judging from the failure of the agency system to promote the welfare of the Indians, and the too common corruption of the service, we must conclude that no rational tests were ever applied in selecting agents* As a matter of fact, we know that agents were never selected