In obedience to law, an abstract of the militia force of the United States.

APRIL 10, 1874.-Ordered to lie on the table and be printed.

The Secretary of War has the honor to transmit to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, in compliance with the act of March 2, 1803, an abstract of the militia force of the United States, according to the latest returns received at the office of the Adjutant-General of the Army.

WM. W. BELKNAP,
Secretary of War.

Abstract of the militia force of the United States, (organized and unorganized,) according to the latest returns received at the office of the Adjutant-General United States Army, furnished for the information of the Congress of the United States, in compliance with the act approved March 2, 1803.

NOTE. No returns have been received from any of the Territories or the District of Columbia. Letters have been repeatedly written to the State authorities urging that the required returns be duly forwarded.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Adjutant-General.

Washington, D. C., January 26, 1874.

In answer to a Senate resolution of March 19, 1874, information relative to the Indian agencies in Nevada.

APRIL 20, 1874.-Ordered to lie on the table and be printed.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. C., April 18, 1874 SIR: On the 19th ultimo this Department was furnished a resolution of the Senate of that, date in the following words :

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior be requested to inform the Senate if any inspector has visited the several Indian agencies in Nevada; and if so, furnish the Senate with a copy of the report upon each agency; also what Indian reservations have been made in Nevada, when and by whom, and also at whose instance the reservation on the Muddy, in the southeastern part of the State, was made, the extent of the same, and how many settlers there were thereon at the time said reservation was made; and also who are the agents and sub-agents employed in said State, and what portion of the past year each has actually resided on the reservation in his charge.

Said resolution was referred to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, on the 20th ultimo; and, in answer thereto, I have the honor to transmit a copy of his report, dated the 17th instant, together with accompanying papers and documents, marked A, B, C, D, E, and F, which contain the information called for by the resolution.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

The PRESIDENT pro tempore of the Senate.

C. DELANO,

Secretary.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Washington, D. C., April 17, 1874.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, by reference from the Department, of Senate resolution dated March 19, 1874, requesting to be informed if any inspector has visited the several Indian agencies in Nevada, and asking for a copy of reports of the same; also at whose instance the reservation on Muddy Creek, in southeast Nevada, was made, together with the extent of the same, and number of settlers

thereon at the time; also who are the agents and sub-agents, and what portion of the past year each has actually resided on his reservation. In compliance therewith, I respectfully reply that the State of Nevada falls within the district of country assigned to the official supervision of J. D. Bevier, United States Indian inspector.

Inspector Bevier reported upon the two Indian agencies in Nevada, one agency embracing the two reservations at Pyramid Lake and at Walker River, in the northwestern part of the State, and the other agency located at Muddy Valley, in the southeastern part of the State. Copies of these reports are herewith inclosed, marked A and B.

Unofficial information indicated that Inspector Bevier did not visit in person the Pi-Ute agency in Southeast Nevada, and a letter of inquiry was addressed to him March 27, 1874, while he was on a special official visit to agencies upon the northern frontier. A copy of his reply, received this day, is herewith inclosed, marked C.

In reply to request as to "what Indian reservation has been made in Nevada," &c., I have to state that there are in Nevada three Indian reservations recognized as such by this Office.

1. Walker River reservation.

Preliminary steps for the establishment of a reservation on Walker River were taken by Frederick Dodge, United States Indian agent, who made a report on the 29th of November, 1859, of his action, designating by definite boundaries a tract of country for the Walker River Indian reservation, which report, being approved by this Office, was submitted to the honorable Secretary of the Interior, November 26, 1859, with a recommendation that it be established by Executive order; but no action appears to have been taken by the Department, and nothing further was done until 1863, when inquiry was made for plats showing the loca tion of this reservation. None having been made, Agent Lockhart was directed, on the 15th of February, 1864, to ascertain the boundaries designated by Agent Dodge, and define by such natural boundaries as might seem right and proper to carry out the original understanding and accomplish the object first intended, with a view to having the same established by Executive order.

Investigation soon led the agent to the conclusion that nothing short of a survey could properly fix the aforesaid boundaries. To this end directions were issued to Agent Lockhart on the 20th of April, 1864, to have a survey made, which was done by Eugene Monroe, in December, 1864, and a plat of said survey with the courses and distances noted thereon, showing by red lines location and boundaries, is on file in the General Land-Office, which has been and is now recognized by this Office as the Walker River Indian reservation.

On the 19th of March, 1874, this reservation was established or set apart by Executive order as recommended in a report which was submitted March 17, 1874, giving the status of the reservation at that date. 2. Pyramid Lake reservation.

The facts recited in the case of Walker River reservation are appli cable to the Pyramid Lake reservation. Both are comprised in the same agency, and are reserved for the same tribe or tribes of Indians.

A report giving the status of this reservation was submitted to the Department from this Office March 20, 1874, and in accordance with recommendations contained in said report, the reservation was estab lished by Executive order, March 23, 1874.

3. Muddy Valley reservation.

The first suggestions looking to the establishment of an Indian reser

vation in Muddy Valley, Southeast Nevada, appear to have been made in October 1871, by Mr. Charles F. Powell, then a special Indian agent, at Pioche, Nevada. In his report for that year, (see An. Rep. Com. Ind. Affs., 1871, p. 562,) in connection with a statement of the condition of affairs, he says, "This is a large and splendid valley, well watered by the Muddy, and I would most earnestly recommend the establishment of a reservation consistent with economy and good judgment." The next year, (see An. Rep. Com. Ind. Affs., 1872, p. 59,) Commissioner Walker, in noting the condition of the Pi-Utes, said: "They should be brought upon one of the reservations set apart for the Indians in Nevada," (referring to the reservations at Pyramid Lake and Walker River, in Northwest Nevada, just previously noticed by him,) " or upon the Uintah reservation in Utah."

The next step in this direction appears in a communication to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated at Pioche, Nevada, November 1, 1872, from Mr. George W. Ingalls, sub-Indian agent for Southeastern Nevada. This, with accompanying papers resulting therefrom, was presented to Congress January 7, 1873. (See Ex. Doc. House of Reps. No. 66, 424 Cong. 3d session, a printed copy of which is herewith inclosed, marked D.)

In a communication to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated March 7, 1873, Agent Ingalls gave a more definite description of the tract of country, with its boundaries, selected by him in Southeastern Nevada, as a proposed reservation for the Pi-Utes, and in accordance therewith the tract so recommended by Agent Ingalls was set apart as a reservation for said Indians by an Executive order, dated March 12, 1873.

In compliance with recommendations in a report to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated December 18, 1873, (a printed copy of which is inclosed herewith, marked E,) from Special Commissioners J. W. Powell and G. W. Ingalls, a recommendation was sent from this Office to the honorable Secretary of the Interior, that a change be made in the boundaries of this Pi-Ute reservation, and the same was forwarded and followed by an Executive order, dated February 12, 1874, cancelling the former order, and setting apart, in lieu thereof, a tract of country bounded as follows:

Beginning at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Colorado River of the West, eight miles east of the 114th degree of west longitude; thence due north to the 37th degree of north latitude; thence west with said parallel to a point twenty miles west of the 115th degree of west longitude; thence due south thirty-five miles; thence due east thirty-six miles; thence due south to the middle of the main channel of the Colorado River of the West; thence up the middle of the main channel of said river to the place of beginning.

Commissioners Powell and Ingalls have reported fourteen claims within the limits of the reservation, which are more fully defined and described, with their estimated value, names of claimants, &c., upon pages 29 and 31 to 36 of their report, (E,) herewith inclosed."

In reply to that portion of the resolution which relates to the agents and sub-agents in Nevada, and the period which each has resided on the reservation under his charge during the past year, I have to say that C. A. Bateman is the agent at the reservations of Pyramid Lake and Walker River, in Northwestern Nevada, and this Office is not aware of his having been absent from that agency during the time specified.

For similar information concerning G. W. Ingalls, the agent at Pi-Ute agency, in Muddy Valley, Southeastern Nevada, reference is made to the