hay. At the same time the raising of stock has been encouraged as much as possible. There are now owned by reservation Indians 199,700 horses, 2,870 mules, 68,891 head of cattle, 32,537 swine, and 863,525 sheep, the latter principally by the Navajoes. The five civilized tribes in the Indian Territory are reported to have 45,500 horses, 5,500 mules, 272,000 head of cattle, 190,000 swine, and 32,400 sheep. Provision has been made for an additional distribution of 11,300 head of stock cattle among the uncivilized tribes, preference being given to those individual Indians who have taken the best care of their stock heretofore. The complaints frequently made in former times that the Indians would slaughter their cows and eat them has ceased almost entirely. On the contrary, it is found that they are beginning to take excellent care of their domestic animals, and to be proud of the increase of their stock. Many have commenced raising swine and poultry, and it is thought expedient to encourage such beginnings in every possible way. The cultivation of garden vegetables among them is also rapidly spreading. Preparations have been made to increase the area of cultivated soil very largely next year. Considerable quantities of agricultural tools and implements have been distributed, and the demand is constantly growing.
For the first time this year the uncivilized tribes in the Indian Territory were induced to take some part in the agricultural and industrial fair at Muskogee. Several of them sent delegations, and although their contributions were at first very limited it is expected that the repetition of the experiment will stimulate a spirit of rivalry among them. Another agricultural fair was held by the Chippewas on the White Earth reservation in Minnesota, where the contributions of agricultural products, of stock, and articles of domestic industry came exclusively from Indians, and where Indians acted as managers and judges. According to all accounts, the exhibition was surprisingly successful. Some of the Sioux chiefs in Southern Dakota on the occasion of my visit a few months ago expressed a desire to have an agricultural fair on their reservation next year, which might seem somewhat premature, as they are just starting in civilized pursuits; but their ambition in this respect is laudable and deserves every encouragement.
The building of houses to supersede the traditional wigwams and to cultivate the love of, and attachment to permanent and comfortable homes is pushed with energy wherever it is possible. Several of the more advanced tribes, not speaking of the civilized tribes of the Indian Territory, are all completely housed or nearly so, and other tribes will be in the same condition in less than a year.
INDIAN FREIGHTING AND MECHANICAL PURSUITS.
Agriculture and herding, however, are not the only fields on which Indian labor has been introduced. In my last annual report I mentioned that late in the autumn of 1878 the conveyance of supplies from the Missouri
