fulness as a school dormitory. The boys' dormitory is new, heated by steam, and modern. The former dormitory was burned to the ground, and for a number of years the boys slept in an old shedlike warehouse. I earnestly recommend a new dormitory for the girls.

There are no mission schools on the reservation, but the Presbyterian Church maintains a missionary, the Rev. Mr. Patterson, a young man who, with his wife, came recently to Hoopa Valley from the Ute Mountain mission in Colorado. The Presbyterian mission is located at the agency, and the Indians in Hoopa Valley will receive the religious care of Mr. Patterson, but the Indians along the Klamath River are without any religious oversight. Neither Mr. Patterson nor any other churchman can attend to the valley and river Indians; one group must be neglected because of the difficulties of travel, and the Klamath River Indians need the ministrations of a Christian church.

Marriage and divorce among them are informal and without the sanction of law. Supt. Mortsolf had himself appointed a deputy county clerk so that he can take an Indian's affidavit for a marriage license and thus have the license mailed from the county seat to the agency, which relieves the Indian from the necessity of a long and expensive trip. This operates quite satisfactorily for the Indians in the Hoopa Valley near the agency, but the Klamath River Indians are too remote and isolated. Among them there is much swapping of wives. Until good, or at least fairly passable, roads provide communication between the agency and the Klamath River country, the connecting strip and the old Klamath River Reservation should be handled as a subagency, with a doctor, farmer, and field matron stationed there. The field matron should be the wife, daughter, or sister of the doctor or farmer.

The fact is that Klamath River Indians are getting little attention from anyone in the Indian Service. This fact can not be charged to any lack of efficiency or neglect of duty on the part of Supt. Mortsolf; it is entirely due to the character of the country, the "layout" of the reservation, and time-consuming requirements of the routine affairs of agency administration which holds the superintendent at Hoopa. If some arrangement could be effected by which the bulk of the agency routine affairs could be handled by a subordinate Mr. Mortsolf could and would move to Requa, or some other point on the Klamath River, for several months of each year and give his Klamath and Lower Klamath Indians the attention and supervision they require. But even this arrangement would not lessen the great need of a doctor, farmer, and field matron for the river Indians.

A little hospital of 26 beds, quite complete and new, was recently opened at Hoopa. During the current (its first) year this hospital cared for 126 cases, with but one death. But the agency has no doctor and the hospital no graduate nurse. The agency physician quit, without notice, a few days before I reached Hoopa. I found nine cases in the hospital; one maternity case and eight children, seven of whom were tubercular and one had trachoma. The attending nurse was a young student nurse from Eureka. She was doing good work, but she was there but temporarily. The general health of the Indians is good. About 50 cases of tuberculosis and 45 cases of trachoma have been identified on the reservation.

About 250 Indians, most of them heads of families, farm for themselves, cultivating 2,700 acres of land and using 4,600 for grazing. Last year they raised 500 tons of hay (oats and alfalfa); 280,300 pounds of wheat; 182,000 pounds of oats; 20,000 pounds of beans; 120,000 pounds of potatoes; 2,000 pounds of corn; 2,100 pounds of rye; 3,700 pounds of barley; and 80,000 pounds of miscellaneous farm and garden products.

Their live stock consisted. of 20 bulls; 200 cows and heifers; 800 hogs and pigs, most of which roamed the adjacent woods; 175 horses; 175 mares; 30 mules; 1 large stallion; 400 steers; and about 2,500 chickens and turkeys. Over 400 Indians support themselves and families and 100 more are making efforts to do so, and approximately $10,000 a year is earned by Indians fishing, trapping, dairying, cutting and selling firewood, and making baskets.

The single fact that 119 Indian children are taught in the public schools without tuition charges of any kind, these pupils the children of Indians who do not pay taxes, is evident that there is no prejudice against the Indians. But the white people of Del Norte and Humboldt Counties do more than teach Indian children; they pay, through the county authorities, $50 to $15 a month each to a number of indigent Indians; they care for dependent sick Indians in their hospitals.

I was told that some of these Indians receiving county aid and support hold trust patents to land on which there is redwood and was told that the redwood was of considerable value; that is, it will be of real cash value when it is marketable. This condition should not continue. If an old sick, blind, or physically disabled Indian owner of redwood or any other kind of land must be supported by the county or Government then the land should be sold, at a sacrifice if need be, so that the Indian can end his or her days in some comfort and with the knowledge that he or she is not a pauper. Red tape should be cut; regulations should be modified and the estimates of lumber cruisers or land appraisers should not be regarded as insurmountable obstacles in the way of giving an indigent owner of redwood land the instant relief which common-sense philanthrophy demands. There are a number of such cases, not only in this jurisdiction but in other California superintendencies and agencies, enough of them to warrant the suggestion that the Indian Office make a special survey of such conditions with the purpose of removing the stigma of pauperism from men and women who have but few more years to live and are entitled to end their days with some degree of comfort.

In conclusion I beg leave to offer the following suggestions and recommendations:

(1) That Congress be requested to make an appropriation for irrigating the farm lands of the allotted Indians in the Hoopa. Valley.

(2) That an appropriation for a semiportable sawmill and an electric light plant be made to replace the mill and plant which were destroyed by fire.

(3) That the fund secured from the sale of the surplus land of the old Klamath Indian Reservation be made available by Congress to complete the trail along the Klamath River.

(4) That a new dormitory for the girls be built at Hoopa Valley. (5) That the old Klamath River Reservation and "connecting strip "be handled as a subagency with a doctor, farmer, and field matron assigned to it.

(6) That an inquiry be made by the Indian Office into the advisability of selling the timber land of old and destitute Indians, at a sacrifice if need be, so that these Indians may have sufficient funds to keep them in comfort for the few remaining years of their lives. Respectfully submitted.

MALCOLM MCDOWELL,

Member, Board of Indian Commissioners.

Hon. GEORGE VAUX, Jr.,

Chairman, Board of Indian Commissioners.

APPENDIX I.

REPORT ON SCHOOLS IN WISCONSIN, MINNESOTA, AND SOUTH DAKOTA, BY SAMUEL A. ELIOT.

BOSTON, MASS., December 20, 1919.

SIR: In accordance with the desire of the board, I have visited certain Indian schools in the Northwest, with a view to reporting on the expediency of the proposed elimination and consolidation of schools in that section. I beg to submit the following report:

The proposals of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in regard to the elimination and consolidation of schools are set forth in volume 1 of the hearings of the House Committee on Indian Affairs, Sixtysixth Congress, first session. On pages 1206-1207 the commissioner enumerates the day schools that he proposes to abolish, the boarding schools to be closed June 30, 1920, the boarding schools to be consolidated July 1, 1920, and those it is proposed to consolidate later.

My mission was to inquire into the expediency of these plans so far as they included the proposed consolidation of the boarding schools at Wahpeton and Bismarck, N. Dak.; Leech Lake and Cass Lake, at Leech Lake, Minn.; Tomah and Hayward, at Tomah, Wis.; Flandreau and Pipestone, at Flandreau, S. Ďak.

NOTE. The description and statistics of the schools, compiled for the Board of Indian Commissioners, are printed in the report of the hearings before the House Committee on Indian Affairs, volume 1, pages 1236-1258.

I unqualifiedly indorse the recommendation of the commissioner to promptly and permanently close the school at Bismarck, N. Dak., and to transfer the children to Wahpeton or to some other convenient boarding school. I am not unaware of the strong opposition on the part of some of the good people of Bismarck to the proposal to close this school, but I can not escape the conviction that the school not only is superfluous but is undesirable. The buildings are located on the bank of the Missouri River, between the railroad and the river, with almost no available land for farm or garden. The enrollment has, for a long time, been small, and the per capita cost of operating is the highest in the service. The plant is deplorably lacking in almost all the equipment needed by a good school. The location is cold, bleak, and wind swept. It is said that teachers and employees prefer

to resign rather than accept assignment to such a place. Superintendents have followed each other in quick succession, and now it is practically impossible to get any superintendent to take the school at all. Two years ago the Indian Office closed the school, but it was reopened last year. The school should be wound up permanently as soon as possible. Certainly no new appropriation should be made. The children can readily be accommodated at Wahpeton, though some of them may find it more convenient to go to the schools at Pierre, Rapid City, or Flandreau.

Wahpeton is a well-located school, with ample railroad connections, a fair plant, farm and equipment, and a good reputation. The proposed consolidation will obviously work alike for economy and efficiency. The estimates show a possible net saving of $23,000 by the combination (vol. 1, p. 1426).

I also indorse the proposal of the commissioner to eliminate the small boarding school at Cass Lake, Minn. That school has a capacity for only 40 pupils, and the per capita cost is therefore abnormally high. The children can be accommodated elsewhere to their own benefit and with a saving in salaries and overhead charges. The management of the school at Cass Lake seems to have been satisfactory and the attendance is good. It is simply a superfluous school and should be closed July 1, 1920.

Owing to the severity of the weather, the coal famine, and the uncertainty of railroad travel, I was unable to visit the school at Leech Lake, to which it is proposed to transfer the children now at Cass Lake. I believe, however, from the information I was able to gather, that this plan should be reconsidered and further studied. The school at Leech Lake appears to be in a somewhat unfortunate location. It is difficult of access, and is situated on a sandy and stony point of land which offers poor facilities for farm and garden. There is practically no industrial equipment. The buildings are of wood and not in the best repair. The dormitory is said to be a fire trap, and the boys and girls are housed in the same building-an abominable arrangement.

The school, apparently, does not enjoy a very good reputation. It is costly to maintain because of its location. All supplies, coal, etc., have to be carried 2 miles across the lake, and in wintertime there is constant interruption of all transportation. It was pointed out to me that the plant of the school at White Earth is in better condition than the plant at Leech Lake, and more accessible. The White Earth school was closed last year because of a drastic reduction in the appropriation for its support, but competent witnesses assured me that if the proposed consolidation of the northern Minnesota schools is approved, that consolidation should make use of the plant at White Earth rather than of that at Leech Lake.

The school at Hayward, Wis., has done good work, and is still needed to meet the needs of a considerable Indian population in northern Wisconsin. The children of these Indians are for the most part beyond the reach of any public schools, and are greatly in need of Government aid in securing an education. The parents are not, as a rule, reservation Indians, but nomads, following the lumber camps of northern Wisconsin or working in the mines about Lake Superior, or earning a scanty living as fishermen. The buildings of

the school at Hayward are, however, not altogether adequate, and will soon be a source of considerable expense for repair and alterations

In the course of two or three years it ought to be possible to close the school at Hayward and transfer the children to Tomah, as proposed by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. I can not, however, indorse any plan to close the Hayward school at once. It ought to be maintained until the necessary additions and improvements are completed at Tomah, and until it is demonstrated that sufficient accommodation can be provided at Tomah for the Wisconsin Indian children that must be educated in Government boarding schools, if they are to be educated at all.

The school at Tomah is one of the best in the service, admirably designed, substantially built, ably administered, enjoying the highest reputation, and, as usual, full to capacity. Certainly when the time comes for the consolidation of the Wisconsin schools, Tomah is the place at which the consolidation should be carried out. There is, however, need of increased accommodation at Tomah. The necessary additions to the plant are all well under way. Foundations are built, and material on the ground. I want very heartily to indorse the appeal of Superintendent Compton for appropriations in the next Indian bill to provide not only the regular items for support, repairs, and transportation, but also for the completion of the improvements already begun, namely, additions to the academic building and to the dormitories, annexes for the lavatories, new equipment for the laundry, the completion of the tile draining for the farm, and small appropriations for concrete walks and fences. With these improvements the Tomah school will have an equipment second to none, and will be ready to accommodate the children from Hayward.

The proposed combination of the schools at Pipestone, Minn., and Flandreau, S. Dak., at Flandreau is one that naturally suggests itself, because these schools are only 12 miles apart. It is also true that a certain proportion of the children at Pipestone could be accommodated at Flandreau, because the Flandreau school is not full to the limit of its capacity. On the other hand, if all the children of Pipestone were to be transferred to Flandreau, it would necessitate an expenditure of at least $40,000 to enlarge the academic building and provide sufficient dormitory accommodations. The Pipestone plant is an exceptionally good one. The buildings are of stone, well designed and equipped. With the exception of the universal need of cottages for employees, the plant is complete and needs little or no alteration or improvement.

So long as there is demand for the education of Indian children. in the Northwest this school should be maintained. Even if the Congress should conclude that it is inexpedient to maintain two schools, carrying on the same general line of work, so near together as Pipestone and Flandreau, it would still be inadvisable to sell the Pipestone plant. If it is not to be used, as now, for the children of the lower grades, it ought to be made into a specialized school, either a normal school for training Indian teachers or a school for defective children, a need greatly felt throughout the Indian school service.

The question might be raised whether it is possible to sell the Pipestone plant, even if it were expedient to do so. I understand that there

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