Indian Agency Employees, Part 2

In the mid 1800s an Indian Agency in the West was managed by a small staff. By 1900, Indian Agency staffs had grown considerably. Following is a list of employees and their job titles for the Ouray Agency in Utah.

White Staff at the Ouray Agency, 1900

H. J. Palmer, Clerk    

Samuel A. Tate, Physician    

Hugh Owens, Farmer 

Wm. Stark, Carpenter

E.F. Addis, Farmer       

Wm. D. Evans, Blacksmith      

John McAndrews, Superintendent Irrigation

Peter Steinmetz, Wheelwright   

Indian Staff at the Ouray Agency, 1900

James Kanapatch, Assistant Blacksmith 

Henry Modoe, Ferryman

John Nachoop, Assistant Carpenter    

Ben New cow ree, Herder         

Jack Johnston, Laborer               

Charley Alhandra, Interpreter   

Louis Fenno, Police Captain   

Monk Shavano, Policeman       

Jake Yump, Policeman       

John Sullivan, Policeman       

Ben Oc cup pi upe, Policeman       

Joseph Arrive, Policeman       

Jim Colorow, Policeman       

 Information from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1900

 

Tabby

Ute Chief Tabby was 90 years old and blind when this photo was taken. Indian Agent Howell P. Myton on the Uinta Ouray Reservation in Utah wrote this note across the photo: “…he has always been a good indian and given good advice to his people.”

According to the High Uintas Preservation Council, Tabby Mountain on the southwest edge of the Uintas is named for Tabiuna-To-Kwanah, Child of the Sun, warrior and leader of the Uinta-ats band of the Ute people. Born about 1800, Chief Tabby died in 1902.

Photo courtesy the Denver Public Library Western History Collection.

Indian Agency Employment, 1900

In the mid 1800s an Indian Agency in the West was managed by a small staff, typically an Indian Agent and a clerk. A large agency might have included a carpenter or blacksmith and two or three herders.
          By 1900, Indian Agency employment had grown considerably and included jobs for Indians. On Utah’s Uinta Reservation, for example, the twelve-man police force was staffed by tribal members.

White Staff at the Uinta Agency, 1900

Howell P. Myton, Agent 

J.A. Gogarty, Clerk               

Henry B. Lloyd, Physician         

G.H. Johnson, Wheelwright 

Sam McAfee, Carpenter

George W. Dickson, Miller/Engineer 

L.H. Mitchell, Farmer  

John Otterstedt, Blacksmith

W.S. Smith, Supervisor of Irrigation

Libbie Whitlock, Field Matron   

Indian Staff at the Uinta Agency, 1900

William Wash, Herder  

Edgar Meritats, Stableman 

Vernie Mack, Interpreter  

George Atwine, Assistant Blcksmth 

Roger Star, Assistant Carpenter    

James A. Robb, Issue Clerk      

Billy Woods, Police Captain  

Albert Chapoose, Policeman 

Tom Arrum, Policeman

Tavoopont, Policeman

Jim Atwine, Policeman

Joe Gross, Policeman

Tocumach, Policeman

Sam Robinson, Policeman

Tosey, Policeman

Sopunics, Policeman

Harry Tabley-Schutz, Policeman

Dave Weech, Policeman

Information from the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1900

Health and Schools Uintah Ouray Reservation 1913

The Annual Report of the Commission of Indian Affairs for 1913 shows a slowly decreasing population on the Unitah Ouray reservation.

During the fiscal year 1913-1914 there were 48 births and 62 deaths on the Uintah Ouray Reservation. Twenty deaths were due to tuberculosis and 14 were children under the age of three years.

One hundred twenty families lived in permanent housing while 150 families lived in tents or tepees in the traditional manner.

There were 238 children eligible to attend school but only 147 were actually enrolled. Eighty-two children attended residential boarding schools – they lived at the school and came home to visit as allowed. Thirty children attended a non-residential boarding school. There were no children attending a day school on the reservation. Thirty-five children apparently lived near enough to a town to attend public school off the reservation.

Livestock Owned Unitah Ouray Reservation 1913

According to the 1913 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Uintah Ouray Reservation in Utah had the following livestock:

1,948   Horses and mules

   353   Mares

     71   Stallions

1,863   Cows and heifers

   512   Steers

     38   Bulls

2,982   Sheep, goats and burros

 

 

Livestock value:  $163,232.00

Value of livestock sold:  $5,929.00

Value of livestock slaughtered:  $2,611

Income Uintah Ouray Reservation 1913

One hundred years ago most of the Ute Indian population lived on reservations in Utah and Colorado. The 1913 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs gives us some idea of how they supported themselves.

Income for the Uintah Ouray Reservation as a whole (1112 Utes):

Wages                                              688 

Crops                                          57,790

Basket weaving                           1,900

Rations                                              -0-

Timber sold                                  1,426

Livestock sold                              5,929

Land sold                                    79,720

Land leased                                   5,441

Trust fund payments                62,939

Interest on trust fund               98,034

Treaty agreements                    22,856

Indian labor & misc.                    4,870

Total                                       $341, 793

Spread among the 1,112 Utes living on the reservation, the income for the year 1913 averages $307.00 per person.

The Uintah Ouray Reservation 100 years ago

The Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs are filled with statistics. From these we gain a little perspective on reservation life in the year 1913.

          Ute populations on Colorado reservations:

          504   Wiminuche

          360   Capote and Muache

          Ute populations on Utah reservations:

          478   Uintah

          451   Uncompahgre

          283   White River

       2,076   Utes living on reservations in 1913

Indian Reservations 100 years ago

The 1913 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs offers a look back in time at the state of Indian Reservations.

          In that year, some 300,000 Indians lived on reservations. The total Indian population was 331,250 (excluding Indians in Alaska).  All the reservations combined covered an area as large as the New England States plus the State of New York. Collectively, their lands were valued at $900,000,000. The timber on reservation land had an estimated worth of $80,000,000.

          The annual Indian death rate (all causes) was 32.24 deaths per 1,000 Indians. Among the total United States population, the annual death rate was 16 per 1,000 persons. Tuberculosis was a growing problem across the nation. Among Indians, 32% of all deaths were due to tuberculosis compared to 11.2% for the general U.S. population.

          Ten thousand Indian children had no schools available.

 

 

Changing Names of Indian Agency

          In 1860 the Conejos Agency was established for the Tabeguache Utes. The name came from the River in Southern Colorado. The little town located along the river was also called Conejos. It was the home of the Indian Agent, Lafayette Head.
          In 1869 the Agency was moved to Los Pinos Creek and renamed Los Pinos Agency.
          The Agency was relocated again in 1875 to the Uncompahgre Valley. However, the name Los Pinos Agency was retained.
          The Tabeguache Utes and their Agency were moved to a new reservation on Utah’s Green River in 1881. It became the Ouray Agency, named for their famous chief who died before the move.
          In 1886 the reservation was consolidated with the adjoining reservation as the Uintah and Ouray Agency

Industrious Utes

In his 1885 report, Agent Elisha Davis noted that some Utes worked as freighters, hauling supplies by wagon from Provo City to the agency, a distance of 150 miles. He reported they had delivered 48,148 pounds of annuity goods and supplies and earned $1,444,44. They also hauled 30,350 pounds of freight for traders, at 3 cents a pound, from Salt Lake City to the agency. Agent Davis noted the Utes did this work with their own teams of horses and “they make careful freighters.”
          The agency had a stock of three stallions and 20 bulls for breeding plus a herd of 400 cows and heifers. The agent reported some Utes had developed their own herds. One Ute had “470 head of as good stock as there is in Utah, worth $12,000; another has 300 head; and others have 50 to 100 head.” Despite these successes, the agent reported “the number who own cattle is very small.”
          A large irrigation ditch was built to support “an immense tract of land” which the agent reported was “proving a success beyond my most sanguine expectations.” He noted that many Indians had built “several quite substantial houses, mostly of sawed logs.”

From “Reports of Agents in Utah,” Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 1885