The Pai-Utes of Utah number..
The Utes of Utah number....
The Pah-vants of Utah number
The Go-si Utes of Utah number

RECAPITULATION.

Total number of Indians in Utah.

The Pai-Utes of Arizona number..

The Pai-Utes of Southern Nevada number
The Go-si Utes of Nevada number............

The Western Shoshones of Nevada number.

Total number of Indians in Nevada met by the commission.

The Northwestern Shoshones of Idaho number.
The Pai-Utes of Southeastern California number.

Total number of Indians visited by the commission......

528

556

134

256

1,474

284

1,031

204

1,945

3, 180

400

184

5,522

There is another confederacy, known as Chem-a-hue-vis, that inhabit the Chem-abue-vis Valley on the Lower Colorado. Their country is separated from that of the PaiUtes in the above table by the region inhabited by the Mojave Indians. These Chema-hue-vis speak the same language as the Pai-Utes, and claim that they formerly lived among them. They still associate with the Pai-Utes farther north in California and at Cottonwood Island, and are intermarried with them.

A delegation of these Indians met the commission at the Vegas, in Nevada. They estimate the whole number of Indians belonging to the confederacy at about 300, and this is believed to be approximately correct.

The Indians of Western Nevada belonging to the Pyramid Lake and Walker River reservations are known as Pah-Utes and Pai-Utes in the records of the Indian Department. They should be known as Pa-vi-o-tsoes, as this is the name by which they know themselves, and by which they are known throughout the surrounding tribes. They are properly a branch of the Bannacks.

In Western Nevada, and on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas in California, there are a number of Indians known as Ko-eats, Pan'-a-mints, &c. They are known to speak languages of the same stock as the Pai-Utes, Shoshones, and Pa-vi-o-tsoes.

PAI-UTES.

CONDITION AND WANTS.

Of the Indians known as Pai-Utes there are thirty-one tribes. Ten of these are united in a confederacy, having for their principal chief Tau-gu'.

The Kwa-an'-ti-kwok-ets, who live on the eastern side of the Colorado River, are nearly isolated from the other tribes, and affiliate to a greater or less extent with the Navajoes.

Seven other tribes of Pai-Utes are organized into a confederacy under the chieftaincy of To'-shoap.

The Pah-ran-i-gats were formerly three separate tribes, but their lands having been taken from them by white men, they have united in one tribe under An'-ti-av.

In the same way the Indians of Meadow Valley were formerly four separate tribes, but now one, under Pa-gwum'-pai-ats.

Four other tribes are organized into a confederacy under the chieftaincy of Ku'-nikai'-vets, and seven under the chieftaincy of To-ko'-pur.

The country inhabited by these Indians no longer affords game in sufficient quantities worthy to be mentioned as a part of their subsistence. A very few deer and mountain-sheep are killed, and a greater number of rabbits. The principal part of their food is obtained by gathering seeds and digging roots. All of the tribes cultivate the soil to a limited extent, raising wheat, corn, beans, melons, and squashes. Some food and the greater part of their clothing is obtained by begging, the skins of such animals as they kill being entirely inadequate to their wants for this purpose. Some of them have, for a few years, received a small supply of clothing from the Government, through the agencies at Salt Lake City and Pioche.

A few of the people occasionally work for white men, and a great many of them are learning to speak the English language; especially is this true of the children.

Prior to the settlement of the country by the white men they all cultivated the soil, and would do so now to an extent sufficient to obtain a living, if they had the lands in the districts of country which they severally occupy. In fact all these tribes, when met by the commission, asked for lands and cattle, that they might become farmers; but each tribe desires to have some part of its original territory set apart for its use. After much talk with the commission and much consultation among themselves,

they all agreed to come together on the reservation set apart for them by executive order in the valley of the Mo'-a-pa, on these conditions-that the Government will remove the white settlers therefrom, and will assist them to remove their old people and children from their present to their prospective home on the reservation, and will assist them to become agriculturists, and provide for their maintenance until such time as they can take care of themselves.

These conditions are reasonable and just. There is no game on the reservation, and the native products are few, and it would be impossible for the Indians to live on the reservation without assistance. It would be useless to take them there without at the same time providing for their support, as in such a case they would be compelled at once to scatter again over the very country from whence they had been taken.

RESERVATION ON THE MO'-A-PA.

The reservation, though large in territory, is composed chiefly of arid, barren mountains and deserts of drifting sands. The only part of the valley fit for agricultural purposes is the few acres-not more than 6,000-which can be redeemed by the use of the waters of the Mo'-a-pa, and some grass-lands of no great extent, for the climate is so arid that agricultural operations cannot be carried on without artificial irrigation. The reservation is between the 36th and 37th parallels of latitude; the climate is very warm; snow is never seen in the valley, and frost rarely. The part of the land which can be brought into cultivation by irrigation produces bountifully, and two crops can be raised in one season. Wheat, oats, barley, corn, sweet potatoes, cotton, and all the fruits of sub-tropical countries can be successfully raised, as has been demonstrated by the present white settlers.

The census taken shows that there are 2,027 Pai-Utes. Adding to this number the Chem-a-hue-vis of Southern California, about 300, and we have 2,327.

It is the opinion of the commission that there is enough water in the Mo'-a-pa Creek to irrigate lands to an extent sufficient to support that number of people for the present, but it would not be wise to take any greater number of Indians there. The Rio Virgen, in its lower course, runs through the reservation, but the waters of this river are salt, and its whole course is over quicksands, and altogether the nature of the country is such that the stream cannot be controlled for purposes of irrigation, except to a very limited extent on the eastern margin of the reservation, and the expense attending the management of the water would be very great.

The boundaries of the reservation should be extended to the east to a point where the river emerges from the mountains through a cañon. By this means the land available for cultivation on the reservation could be increased to the extent of two or three thousand acres. (See general recommendations, page 37.)

SALT.

In the bluffs on the banks of the Rio Virgen, a short distance below the mouth of the Mo'-a-pa, there are extensive deposits of salt, in many places very pure and easily accessible. It is probable that these salt-beds can be worked to some extent, and the products thereof made a source of revenue to the Indians.

CATTLE-RAISING.

In the upper part of the valley of the Mo'-a-pa are the grass-lands above mentioned. In addition to these, along the dry benches on either side, and in a few places along the valley of the Virgen, there is a scant supply of bunch-grass. The reservation does not afford extensive facilities for cattle-raising, though a few cows can be kept with advantage.

BUILDINGS.

The buildings occupied by the present white settlers are of adobe covered with tules, a species of reed-like plants. They would be of great value for the immediate use of the employés and a part of the Indians.

TIMBER.

Within the present boundaries of the reservation there is no timber, but a short distance beyond the western line a small amount of timber can be procured on the side of a mountain known as Gass Mountain. To prevent speculators from seizing this for the purpose of selling it to the Government, the boundaries of the reservation should be extended so as to include the timber-tract.

Hundreds of thousands of cotton-woods have been planted on the reservation, in part by the present settlers, but chiefly by others who preceded them. These are making vigorous and healthy growth, and will, in a few years, furnish an abundance of wood for fuel, and some for building purposes.

In the mean time fuel can be procured by using the few mesquite-bushes that grow in the vicinity of the farms.

MILL.

There is a dam, a mill-race, and mill-building, but no machinery in the mill. This should at once be properly supplied and worked, as the distance to settlements where a mill is situated is very great.

ROADS.

There are three roads by which the settlement on the reservation is approachedone from the Hualapai mining district on the south, crossing the Colorado River at the mouth of the Rio Virgen, another from Saint George on the east, and another from Pioche on the north. All these roads are very bad, making it expensive to transport the necessary supplies and material for the reservation from the settlements where they can be procured. One of the roads, probably the one from the agency to Pioche, should be put in good order at once.

WHITE SETTLERS.

At the time this reservation was set apart by Executive order there were a number of families settled in the valley, and they still remain for the purpose of holding their claims. They occupy the best lands and control much of the water which is needed for the reservation, and it was only by their sufferance that the Indians were able to plant a crop this fall. It will not be possible for the Indians to proceed with any extensive farming until these people are removed.

There is danger of other troubles arising also, from their presence on the reservation, as there is a constant conflct between them and the Indians, which becomes more bitter daily, and, as the number of Indians is increased, it is liable to result in disastrous consequences.

IMPROVEMENTS MADE BY FORMER SETTLERS.

Early in the year 1865 a number of people from Utah settled in the valley of the Mo'-a-pa. Others followed rapidly and four towns were established, Saint Thomas, Saint Joseph, Overton, and West Point; and the number increased untiljit was claimed that there were more than two thousand people in the valley. These people made extensive and valuable improvements. An extensive system of irrigating-canals was constructed so as to utilize all the water of the Mo'-a-pa.

As the country was destitute of timber, cotton-woods were planted along these water-courses. Much labor was also expended on the opening of roads.

When these people came into the valley it was supposed by them that they were settling in the Territory of Arizona, but when the lines separating Utah, Arizona, and Nevada were run by Government surveyors the valley was found to be within the jurisdiction of the State of Nevada. Thereupon the inhabitants of the valley abandoned their homes and returned to Utah.

When they left, other settlers came in and located claims in the most valuable parts of the valley, under the laws of Nevada enacted for the purpose of securing possessory rights.

The houses erected by the original settlers were built of adobes, usually covered with tules or earth, and being of perishable material, they, with some exceptions, have gone to ruin. These exceptions are the few houses which the present inhabitants have occupied and preserved. These people have also kept up only a part of the origieal canals, constructing some new water-ways, and adapting them to their present wants.

To utilize the valley as a reservation for the number of Indians which it is proposed to assemble here, it will be necessary to repair the original canals and drain certain swamps which were only partially drained by the first inhabitants. This can be done with a saving to the Government of probably more than a hundred thousand dollars, in comparison with the original cost of the work.

The land has never been surveyed by the Government, and the original owners lost their possessory rights by abandonment. The present settlers have acquired possessory rights, not to the whole valley with all its original improvements, but only to such pasts as are covered by their several claims. It would be impossible for the original owners to acquire possession of the valley again without purchasing the rights of the