Missionaries. The Methodist Church supports two missionaries on this reserva

tion.

Roads and bridges.-Four miles of road were built and 25 miles repaired by the Indians during the year.

Arts and trades.-The Indians realized about $7,000 during the year from the sale of baskets, bows and arrows, and beadwork.

Indian courts. The court here is composed of three judges, who have punished four Indians during the year for Indian offenses. Fifty-one Indians have also been punished by confinement to agency jail for being drunk and disorderly and for leaving reservation without permission.

Fences. About 10,000 acres of this reservation is under fence. Three thousand rods of new fencing were built during the year.

Product and stock.-The Indians have about 600 acres under cultivation this year, on which they have raised 200 bushels wheat, 325 bushels oats, 75 bushels corn, 400 bushels potatoes, 35 bushels onions, and 20 bushels beans. They also cut about 600 tons of hay.

They own 1,523 horses, 12 mules, 131 burros, 60 cattle, 3,060 sheep, 609 goats, and 90 domestic fowls.

Issues. Issues are made semimonthly. There are also small issues of annuity goods each year, but no cash annuity.

Education. There are now 210 children of school age on the reservation. These people are as yet without school facilities, but there is a school building to be completed by December 1. which will supply this need.

Health. The health has been good during the past year, there being no epidemics of any kind.

Dwellings. During the past year 10 houses have been built by Indians with some Government help, making 295 houses now occupied by Indians. a net increase of 5 over the past year.

Present condition.-The present condition of these Indians is very poor. It is very difficult at any time to raise crops on this reservation, but on account of the Government failing to furnish them with seed this year and the total failure of all crops last year on account of drought, they are raising practically nothing, and the Government rations are not nearly sufficient for their needs.

Needs. Before the Apache can ever become self-supporting on his present reservation he must be provided with stock, either by the sale of timber, as suggested above, or by some other means. The reservation is totally unfit for agriculture, but is well adapted to stock raising. The Apache Indian is too poor to secure the necessary amount of stock to enable him to support himself by their care, and he will remain a burden upon the Government until they are provided. Respectfully submitted.

The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.

N. S. WALPOLE, United States Indian Agent.

REPORT CONCERNING INDIANS IN NEW YORK.

REPORT OF AGENT FOR NEW YORK AGENCY.

NEW YORK AGENCY, Salamanca, N. Y., July 30, 1900.

SIR: In compliance with instructions, I have the honor to submit herewith my second annual report of the New York Agency.

The number of Indians.-The Indians under the jurisdiction of this agency are divided by tribal organizations as follows:

The Indian reservations.-There are six Indian reservations in the agency, which extends over the State of New York. The names, location, and acreage of the reservations are as follows:

Allegany, in Cattaraugus County, 35 miles in length, along the Allegany River, with a varying width of 1 to 2 miles, and comprising 30,469 acres.

Cattaraugus, in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Erie counties, 9 miles long, width of 3 miles, and embracing 21,680 acres.

Onondaga, in Onondaga County, 8 miles south of Syracuse, 4 miles long, 2.3 miles wide, 6,100 acres.

St. Regis, in Franklin County, on the Canadian border, 7.3 miles long by about 3 miles wide, 14,640 acres.

Tonawanda, in Erie and Genesee counties, about 20 miles east of Buffalo, 6,549

acres.

Tuscarora, in Niagara County, about 5 miles northeast of Niagara Falls, 6,249

acres.

The Seneca occupy the Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Tonawanda reservations; the other reservations are occupied by the tribes bearing their names. The Cayuga and Oneida have no reservations. A few families of the latter reside among the whites in Oneida and Madison counties, in the vicinity of the Oneida Reservation, which was sold and broken up in 1846, when most of the Oneida removed to Wisconsin. What lands they have they own in fee simple, and the Oneida here are voters at the white elections. A considerable number of Oneida live on the Onondaga Reservation. The Cayuga mostly reside upon the Cattaraugus Reservation. The descendants of the noted Seneca chief, Cornplanter, numbering about 90, occupy a small reservation, embracing some 760 acres on the Allegany River, just south of the State line. This land was a gift to Cornplanter from the State of Pennsylvania, and is owned by his descendants in fee, and is divided in severalty among them. The Cornplanter Indians are enrolled with the Seneca of the Allegany Reservation and are voters at the Seneca Nation elections.

There are residing upon Long Island a remnant of the Shinnecock tribe, numbering about 150, a few families of Poospatuck, and a few Montauk. These remnants of tribes have intermarried with negroes until their aboriginal character is nearly obliterated.

There are residing within the limits of this agency, mostly upon the Cattaraugus Reservation, 21 Munsee and Stockbridge Indians, who have left the reservation of these tribes in Wisconsin.

The Allegany leservation.-This reservation, as above stated, lies along the Allegany River for a distance of about 35 miles, the eastern boundary being near the village of Vandalia and the western at the boundary line between New York and Pennsylvania. The reservation lines are run so as to take in practically all of the Allegany Valley, and the land for the most part is fertile and easily tilled. Of the 30,469 acres in the reservation 5,465 is included within the white villages established under the act of Congress of 1875, leaving about 25,000 acres which are under the present control of the Indians. These lands have been stripped of the original timber growth, and are now valuable only for tillage or pasturage. Notwithstanding that over 1,000 Indians reside upon this reservation not one-half of the lands are under cultivation. Large stretches are covered with bushes and second-growth timber. The Indians generally seem to lack that persistence in work which is required to clear up and improve these lands properly. However, there are several good farmers upon the reservation, and the small homes of the Indian people are gradually improving. The Indians themselves are learning to value the comforts of life, and manifest a willingness to make an effort to secure them. Most of them work more or less for the whites, and their employers report a steady improvement in the quality of their labor. The population of the Allegany Reservation is 1.086, of which 1,006 are Seneca and 80 are Onondaga.

Railroads.-The Allegany Reservation is traversed by several important lines of railroad. The Erie (New York, Lake Erie and Western) runs along the north bank of the river from the eastern terminus of the reservation to a point near Steamburg, a distance of about 25 miles. The Erie also crosses the reservation at Carrollton, running south to Bradford, Pa., and thence to the coal fields of McKean and Clearfield counties, in that State.

The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad runs along the north bank of the river from Salamanca to Carrollton a distance of 6 miles, when it turns to the south, crosses the reservation, and runs to Bradford, Punxsutawney, and Pittsburg. The river division of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad follows the south bank of the river the entire length of the reservation.

White villages.-The construction of these various lines of railroad through the reservation resulted in the building up of several white villages within its bounda

ries. For some years the whites occupied the lands under leases made with individual Indians, but these leases had no legal value, and naturally much friction and frequent litigation resulted. February 19, 1875, Congress passed an act providing for the appointment of a commission to locate and define the boundaries of the white villages then in existence on the reservation. The commissioners laid out five villages. We give below their names and the approximate amount of land within the boundaries of each: Vandalia, 240 acres; Carrollton, 2,200 acres; Great Valley, 260 acres: Salamanca, 2,000 acres: West Salamanca, 750 acres: Red House, 15 acres.

The act of February 19, 1875, ratified all the leases then in existence within the boundaries of the above villages for a period of five years, and provided that at the expiration of the five years the owners of the improvements would be entitled to a renewal of their leases at recurring intervals of twelve years. The leases for the twelve year periods were to be made by the Seneca Nation of Indians through their council, and the rentals were to be made payable to the treasurer of the said Seneca Nation. The first twelve-year leases were made in 1880 and expired in 1892. In 1890 this act was amended by Congress, providing that when the leases were renewed in 1892 it might be for a period of ninety-nine years. In 1892 the leases were renewed for the period of ninety-nine years.

Rentals from leases in white villages.-The Seneca Nation receives from rentals of land within the aforesaid white villages probably in the neighborhood of $6,000 a year. The exact amount is not known, owing to the fact that the Seneca Nation has no system of financial reports giving clear and exact information as to receipts and expenses. The lack of such reports naturally begets dissatisfaction among the people of the nation, and efforts have been made to secure the passage of an act by Congress taking the collection of rentals from the Seneca Nation treasurer and putting it into the hands of the United States Indian agent. A bill introduced by Congressman Ryan. of Buffalo, in December, 1899, providing for the collection of rentals by the United States Indian agent and for the per capita distribution of the same among the members of the Seneca Nation, passed the House of Representatives and is pending in the Senate.

Growth of white villages.-Salamanca is the only one of the white villages established under the act of Congress of February 19, 1875, which has attained a very great degree of importance, Vandalia was at one time quite a shipping point for bark and lumber, but since these products have been exhausted in the vicinity it has dwindled in population and business importance. Carrollton, by reason of railroad changes, is not as important a place as it was twenty years ago, and the business interests of Great Valley have been absorbed by Salamanca, which adjoins it on the west. West Salamanca is a pleasant little village of 400 or 500 people. The Erie Railroad stock yards and feeding station are located at this place and contribute considerably to its business interests. By the removal of the Erie Railroad station to a point nearly 1 mile westerly the population and business interests of the village of Red House are practically wiped out. One or two families comprise the entire population within the boundaries of the village established by the act of Congress. There is a village, however, known as Red House on the south side of the Allegany River, near the Western New York and Pennsylvania depot, which has some business importance. There are located here two or three stores and a hotel. The whites in this village have no legal title to the land they occupy, but they are permitted to remain by the Seneca Nation authorities, paying rentals to the individual Indians to whom the lands belong under the rules and regulations of the Seneca Nation.

Salamanca is the railroad center of Cattaraugus County, all the above railroads named converging here. The superior railroad privileges have caused a rapid growth in population and business enterprises. The population aggregates nearly or quite 5,000, and the place has fine brick blocks, excellent schools, waterworks, electric lights, good sewerage, paved streets, and all the improvements possessed by any city of its size in the Empire State. It is the division terminus of the Erie, is a trading point for a large section of country, and two large tanneries and other industries contribute to the business prosperity of the place.

The Oil Spring Reservation.-This is a small tract of 640 acres, located on the eastern border of Cattaraugus County, in the towns of Ischua, Cattaraugus County, and Cuba, Allegany County. The reservation takes its name from a spring which gives off a small quantity of petroleum oil. In early times, long before petroleum had become a well-known product, the Indians used this oil for medicinal purposes, and they placed great value upon the spring. Test wells put down in the vicinity have failed to show the presence of oil in paying quantities. The Seneca own the Oil Spring tract unencumbered by any preemption right. They do not occupy it, but lease it to white farmers.

The Cattaraugus Reservation.--This reservation lies along both sides of Cattaraugus Creek, beginning at a point near Gowanda, and running to Lake Erie. It is for the most part a fertile tract of land, and is very pleasantly situated. The Cattaraugus Indians have attained considerable proficiency in farming, and there are many comfortable homes, with good buildings. The owners have good teams and carriages, and their houses have many modern conveniences and comforts. It is a fact worthy of note that the Indians known as pagans are much less thrifty than those known as Christians. This is no doubt due, in a large measure, to the fact that the pagans are opposed to education and progress, and cling tenaciously to the old Indian customs and habits. The timber on this reservation has been mostly cut off, and the Indians in the near future will be confronted with a serious problem in regard to the fuel question. There are residing upon the Cattaraugus Reservation 1,262 Seneca, 149 Cayuga, 36 Onondaga, and 21 Munsee and Stockbridge Indians.

The Senoca Nation.-The Allegany and Cattaraugus Seneca are organized and incorporated under the laws of New York as the Seneca Nation," with a constitutional system of government. The officers are elected by popular vote. The elections up to the present year were held annually, but the amended constitution of the Seneca Nation, which was ratified by the legislature of New York at its session in 1900, provides for a biennial election, to be held in November.

The nation elects a president, clerk, treasurer, and 16 councilors, 8 from each reservation. There are clected also a surrogate, peacemakers, marshals, and overseers of the poor for cach reservation. The president and the council constitute the executive and legislative branches of the government, and the affairs of the nation are administered by them. The judicial power is lodged in the peacemakers' courts and the council, the latter being the appellate court. The peacemakers, 3 upon each reservation, have jurisdiction in all matters relating to wills, estates, real estate, and divorces. The forms, processes, and proceedings of the peacemakers' courts are similar to those of justices of the peace in New York. The Indian courts afford but meager protection to the people. The peacemakers are often men without education or experience, and complaints are frequent that they are susceptible to corrupt and improper influences. Complaints are also made against the council that appeals are decided not upon their merits, but through favoritism and political influence. Provision ought to be made for an appeal to the white courts of the State, so that justice could be secured when the Indian courts fail to do their duty.

Petroleum on the Allegany Reservation.-The Seneca Nation council on the 3d day of December, 1896, granted a lease for oil and gas purposes to the Seneca Oil Company (a corporation composed of white men) of all that part of the Allegany Reservation lying east of Salamanca, and outside the village limits of Vandalia, Carrollton. and Great Valley. It is estimated that the lease covers about 4,000 acres. This lease was ratified by Congress, and the Seneca Oil Company proceeded to develop the territory. The eastern part of the lease was contiguous to the Chipmunk oil field, and has proved to be good oil territory. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899, the total oil production under the lease to the Seneca Oil Company was 75,695.95 barrels, which was sold for $86,793.48. The Seneca Nation received one-eighth royalty, or $10,849.18.

The lease of the Seneca Oil Company was transferred to the South Penn Oil Company in January, 1900, and the oil developments under the lease have since been conducted by that company.

The Seneca Oil Company furnishes me with the following statement of oil produced from wells on the Allegany Reservation from July 1, 1899, to January 15,

1900:

The South Penn Oil Company furnishes me with the following statement of oil produced on the Allegany Reservation by that company for the first six months of 1900:

The total amount received from sales of oil during the fiscal year, according to the above statements, was $93,515.19. The Indians have one-eighth royalty, which amounted to $11,689.40. The royalty is paid into the hands of the Seneca Nation treasurer, the same as the rentals from the leases in the white villages. There has been no per capita distribution of oil or lease money during the fiscal year.

Oil and gas lease on the Cattaraugus Reservation. In January, 1899, the Seneca Nation council granted a lease to John Quilter, of Carrollton, N. Y., of the Cattaraugus Reservation for oil and gas purposes. The lease was subsequently transferred by Quilter to the Standard Oil Company. The lease covers the entire Cattaraugus Reservation, and is to continue for five years from the date when the lease shall be ratifled by the Congress of the United States, and so long thereafter as oil and gas shall be found in paying quantities. The lease has not yet been ratified by Congress. A bill to ratify the lease was introduced at the late session of that body, but it did not pass. Neither did the bill to ratify an oil and gas lease to Quilter to lands on the Allegany Reservation in the towns of Elko and South Valley, which was granted by the Seneca Nation council in 1897.

Highway improvements.-The principal highways on the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations have been greatly improved within the past few years by State appropriations. The legislature of New York at its late session made another appropri ation of $5,000 for road improvements on those reservations in the towns of Carrollton, Coldspring, Elko, Great Valley, Red House, Salamanca, and South Valley, on the Allegany Reservation, and in the town of Perrysburg, on the Cattaraugus Reservation. The money for these improvements is expended under the direction of the State superintendent of public works.

The Tonawanda Reservation. This reservation is occupied by the Tonawanda band or tribe of Seneca. Their government, which is entirely distinct from that of the Allegany and Cattaraugus Seneca, is by chiefs, who are elected in accordance with Indian customs and hold office for life, unless deposed. There are elected each year by popular vote a president, a clerk, a treasurer, a marshal, and three peacemakers.

The Tonawanda Reservation lies on both sides of the Tonawanda Creek and is a tract of very fertile land, nearly the whole of it being capable of cultivation. There are a few good farmers on the reservation, but a considerable part of the land is worked by whites under leases from individual Indians. The State law authorizes these leases, permit having been granted by the council of said nation or tribe and having been approved by the attorney of the tribe. The attorney of the band is the district attorney of the county of Genesee, and the State pays him a salary of $150 a year. The Tonawanda Seneca number 509, and there are residing with them 18 Cayuga, 10 Oneida, and 44 Allegany and Cattaraugus Seneca. The Tuscarora Reservation.-This reservation is a beautiful and fertile tract of land. The Tuscarora are an intelligent and thrifty class of people, and in some respects are superior to all other tribes in the agency. They are good farmers, and most of them have comfortable buildings and well-fenced farms. The government of the Tuscarora is by chiefs. The chiefs on this reservation are all Christians and there are few pagans. The census roll shows 373 names. There are also 49 Onondaga residing on the reservation.

The Onondaga Reservation. This reservation lies about 5 miles south of the city of Syracuse. The country is quite broken, and the land upon the steeper hillsides is worthless except for woodland and pasturage purposes. Most of the arable land is under cultivation, but much of it is leased to the whites. A State law authorizes any member of the Onondaga tribe residing upon the reservation, owning or possessing improved lands thereon, to lease such lands to white persons for a term