APPENDIX U. REPORT ON THE MESCALERO INDIAN RESERVATION, N. MEX., BY HUGH L. SCOTT. PRINCETON, N. J., June 29, 1920. SIR: I have completed an inspection of the Mescalero Indian Reservation, N. Mex., where Inspector P. T. Lonergan, of the Indian Bureau, was also inspecting. We made our journeys over the reservation together, thus lessening the tax on the agency transportation. The agency headquarters is in the beautiful but narrow valley of Tularosa Creek, 18 miles from Tularosa, a station on the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad. The altitude of the agency is 6,600 feet. Frost is experienced early and late, which shortens the agricultural season and limits the variety of crops it is possible to raise; wheat, oats, and hay are the usual crops; the oats are of a superior quality. This is the agency of the Mescalero Apaches, the indigenous Indians, to which band some of the Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war were added in 1913, 185 in number. The whole number of Indians now on the reservation is 613. Of the Fort Sill Apaches, 17 have died since coming to the reservation, leaving 168 of the original number. The Fort Sill Indians were received by the Mescalero Indians (relatives) on an equal footing in every way, with all the rights and privileges they enjoyed themselves, and stated in 1912 that one of their principal reasons for doing this was to take advantage of this new blood to mix with their own, as their band had greatly diminished and needed new blood for intermarriage and consequent improvement of health. The Fort Sill Apaches came to this agency full of courage and hope. Their proportion of the appropriation for their settlement was $120,000, and they brought with them $170,000, the proceeds of the sale of their cattle and other property at Fort Sill, $290,000 in all, of which there remains but little to show at the present time. It was promised them by the joint agreement of the Secretaries of War and Interior that they would be put in as good an economic condition as when they were at Fort Sill, and they claim that this promise was not fulfilled by the department. Their houses were built of green lumber, which has dried out and shrunk, leaving the houses very open and uninhabitable in winter. While some of the Indians have access to water, others are obliged to haul their drinking and other water from 2 to 3 miles. They became discouraged and have retrograded since coming under the jurisdiction of the department. I recommended over seven years ago that the mature timber of the reservation, said then to be worth $3,000,000, be sold for the benefit of these Indians. It is only now that $500,000 worth has been sold. Had action been taken at once these Indians would be on their feet. As it is the Indians are taking new courage over this sale, and if Congress can be brought to advance the payment for the timber which does not accrue for some years and permit the work to begin at once the Indians may yet be saved. There seems to be ample security for such a loan in the timber itself, which is increasing in value, and in the cattle to be purchased with the loan. It is urged that every effort be made to bring about this loan and cause the work to begin at the earliest practicable moment so that no further discouragement may come to them. Full advantage should be taken of their present revival of courage. They have it in them to become a useful people, especially those from Fort Sill, where under my own jurisdiction they built over 70 houses, hauling the material 33 miles from the railroad. They dug their own wells, with a well machine, around 200 feet in depth; it is necessary to go deeper in the Mescalero country, too deep for their ability. They raised in one year at Fort Sill 300,000 pounds of kaffir corn, put up and sold to the Government 1,000 tons of hay, 500 tons of it being baled by their own labor, besides building fences, taking care of 2,500 head of cattle, various gardens, etc. They know how to work if opportunity and encouragement are given them. I can not urge too strongly that this revival of their courage be taken advantage of. HEALTH. The health statistics present an alarming condition. It is reported that there are of tubercular cases, pulmonary, 75; glandular, 65; bone, 10; total, 150. Of trachoma there are 400 cases. When it is considered that the population is but 613 and 150 people have tuberculosis in some form and 400 have trachoma in one of the healthiest locations in the United States, the proportion of diseased persons seems unduly large. It is recommended that a special inspection be made by the health officers of the department with a view to bringing about an improvement in this condition. THE SCHOOL. The Mescalero boarding school was inspected in company with the principal, Mr. Duncan, and Inspector Lonergan. The children were absent on vacation and were not seen. The property of the schoolbeds, clothing, dormitories, rooms, kitchen, etc.-were in a very neat, clean, and shipshape condition. The buildings are good, but need repairs and paint, the toilet and baths are inadequate, archaic, and insanitary. This condition has been reported to the department as far back at least as 1915, but no attention has been paid to it. This may be one of the causes contributing to the alarming health condition mentioned above. The matron reports the food as of good quality and sufficient in amount except for milk, which the children would drink if they could get it. When it is remembered that all young children thrive better on milk and that pure milk is one of the principal elements of food of tubercular patients, it would seem necessary to provide this in large quantity from cows tested for tuberculosis. There are no toilet facilities in the school building, and this building is also too small for the number of children. The shoes of the children were reported as being flimsy and soon worn out. Those shown to me were of poor quality and of improper shape in that they caused a deviation of the direction of the great toe from the normal, a fertile cause of most of the ills to which the foot is heir. This has been observed also at other agencies. It is recommended that an oil-tanned shoe be provided, built on a last similar to that of the Munson shoe, a sample of which could probably be procured from the Quartermaster General of the Army, or a sample of the shoe built on the Scott last used by the cadets of the Military Academy at West Point. These would have a greater first cost than the shoe now provided but would not only keep the children's feet in better condition but would, it is thought, be cheaper in the end on account of their more durable quality. The shoe used at West Point practically removed the cadet from the sick report on account of his feet, and it so appealed to President Wilson that he bought two pairs for his own use before inauguration, and he was still wearing them with satisfaction when last noticed in the spring of 1916. It is believed that the above remarks as to quality and shape of shoe would apply to every agency. The school is reported to have facilities for 100 children. One hundred and eleven were in attendance last session, and 33 children received no instruction last year for lack of facilities. It is highly detrimental to any community to allow any element of its population to grow up undisciplined and untaught, and it is especially so for New Mexico, which has a large illiterate population, and also especially so for a backward people like the Mescaleros. It is recommended that facilities be provided to take care of all the children of school age on the reservation. The comfort and health of the children would be much improved by the addition of sleeping porches on both sides of each dormitory. The water supply is hard but is healthful and of sufficient quantity at the source. The storage capacity, however, is inadequate and gives out at night, causing the closing of the toilets, to the detriment of the children's health. It is recommended that the storage capacity be increased, that toilet and bath facilities mentioned before as dangerous be changed, and action taken at once so as to have the school ready for its opening in the fall. THE HOSPITAL. The hospital is of the usual type of agency hospitals, adequate in many ways, but, like others, it lacks a room for the nurse on the same floor as the patients. The nurse's room is now too remote. There is but one nurse, who must have some rest, and she is too difficult, of access in case of emergency; and when it is mentioned that there have been as high as 45 patients in the hospital at one time it is seen that one nurse is inadequate, and the physician reports that another is indispensable. He reports also that for lack of room he is obliged to make his major operations in a crowded ward, and that there is no place to segregate an infectious case, no place to permit a nervous case to be kept out of the constant noise and movement of a crowded ward, or to permit a patient to die in peace. It is recommended that the above deficiencies be remedied by an enlargement not only in this hospital but at all agencies where the hospital is of similar type and the attendance is as great as it is at this agency; also that sleeping porches be put on both sides of each ward, especially in warm climates, to prevent the glare and to permit the patients to take advantage of the sun as it moves on both sides of the house and to shelter them from the wind in every direction. It is thought this can be accomplished at small comparative cost and will add much to the comfort of the patients. This hospital needs, in addition, to have paint and repairs. The physician and matron are highly spoken of for their fidelity and efficiency. The former was constantly on the go attending to various patients during my stay. He reports that the hospital is well supplied. The transportation at this reservation is deficient and holds back the work. When it is considered that many trips must be made to the railroad 18 miles away to bring up and take back inspectors, etc., and that constant touch must be kept with Indian settlements 30 miles or more away over mountain roads, it is a cause of wonderment that this agency should have but one good and one poor car (which is all I noted) and that another agency recently inspected should have 10. Every one of these 10 was needed, for the jurisdiction covered an immense area, but its needs were so much better met than at the Mescalero Agency. This is another instance of the inequality of treatment noted at many agencies and gives rise to the belief that the system of allotment is at fault. In addition to the needs of the agency mentioned above, two septic tanks are required and a central heating plant should be built. The winters are usually severe at this altitude, the consumption of coal is considerable, and the fuel must be hauled for some distance. It is thought a central plant would be an economical measure. It was observed, in addition, that there is no gymnasium. One should be provided to permit the children to exercise under cover in bad weather, and this lack is observed at many agencies. I was glad to note that one was contracted for at the Crow Agency last summer and it should be available this coming winter. The superintendent at Mescalero, Capt. Ernest Stecker, has been well known to me for many years. He has a constructive mind as well as an attitude sympathetic to the Indian. He is well acquainted with the Fort Sill Apaches, whose confidence he has had for years. He had long experience in connection with Indians before entering the Indian Service, has improved every agency he has controlled, and is said to be one of the best superintendents in the service. He greatly improved the Kiowa and Comanche Agency at Anadarko and the San Carlos Apache in Arizona. He volunteered for the late war and upon his return, although he asked for the San Carlos Agency was detailed to Mescalero. It strikes me this did not show a proper appreciation of a patriotic act by the department. I am informed simi lar cases have occured in the service; the justice of the complaints I do not know. The funds from grazing fees on tribal lands and from other miscellaneous sources at the Mescalero Agency are deposited to the credit of the Treasurer of the United States as "Indian money, proceeds of labor, Mescalero Indians." This sum is available for appropriation for Indian support or for school purposes, such as repairs to buildings, etc. This fund collected during the fiscal year 1920 amount to $43,293.84. It was obtained as follows: Derived from grazing fees-- Sale of slabs, product of sawmill.. Sale of seed oats- Sale of fence posts from tribal lands.... Sale of products of school farm__. Sale of tribal herd steers (from increase) Product of blacksmith shop- Fund seized from gamblers- Sale of condemned property. Deposit as bond for sale of timber, held as part payment advance on timber cut --- 11760 INT 1920-VOL 2- -10 $8, 907. 15 10.00 40.24 200.00 1.05 24, 922. 00 2.00 1.40 10.00 9, 200.00 At the close of the fiscal year 1919 it was estimated by the superintendent that the total value of the individual and tribal property on the reservation was $5,526,657. Of this amount $174,147 was the value of individual property and $5,352,510 tribal property. The total value of tribal stock and timber was $4,717,350. I was informed that the original investment for the tribal herd which was started in June, 1914, was $69,838.60. The cost of the first 1,265 heifers and bulls was $65,590. The inventory of the herd made June 30, 1919, showed that the total assets were $226,238.52; this includes two wells valued at $3,000, fences, corrals, implements, etc. The total costs of the herd to May 31, 1920, amounted to $131,549.97, thus making a net gain of $94,688.55 for the herd since its establishment, not including the value of the 1920 calves which had not been rounded up by the end of May. The 1919 calves were valued at $31,600 on June 30, 1919. Taking this figure into consideration, it can safely be estimated that the herd will have shown a gain of approximately $125,000 on June 30, 1920, six years from the date of the original purchase. The annual leases of grazing lands by white permittees aggregates, in round number, $12,000. I was struck in going over the range with the large areas showing weeds, which plainly indicated the overstocking of the range with sheep. Capt. Stecker has already raised the courage and hope of the Mescalero Indians, and if his plans are carried out by the department and Congress these Indians will be greatly benefited, and I again urge on the department that Congress be brought to furnish the necessary funds at the earliest practicable date. Respectfully submitted. HUGH L. SCOTT. Member, Board of Indian Commissioners. The honorable the SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. O |