Letters of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1849-1880, California Superintendency

the assistance of good Agents and employes [employees] they may be enabled to raise, and to expend the money received from this source for their benefit in such manner as you may direct or their interest and greatest good call for. The proceeds of the sale of produce might be taken up and carried on our money accounts and disbursed in the usual manner or a separate account or record of all such transactions subject to examination at any time might be kept and no mention be made in out regular returns. I invite your careful attention to this proposition.

I would add a word as to the difficulty of obtaining employe's [employees] of the right character for the compensation allowed by the Act. It is almost impossible to induce good men to labor for $50 per month in currency and no other will I have. Those now on the Reservations are remaining, trusting that legal tenders may increase sufficiently in value to justify them in continuing in the service. What employes [employees] I retain must be active men, of character, any other are worse than useless. I hope to be able to induce a sufficient number to remain with the inducements now held out.

received I shall start tomorrow to arrange matters pertaining to the location of the reservation at Hoopa.

I consider my actions in closing the hostilities long existing and disastrous by the location of this reservation to be among the most important of the changes so far made.

The Indians are now peaceable and every thing promises well for the future. Difficulty may be experienced, hostilities may be renewed there is nothing certain so long as the races live in proximity to each other but by good management I see no means why peace may not be preserved for all time to come. This then I propose to be one of the four reservations contemplated by the Act. Smith River Reservation was located upon surveyed land which had been purchased by the settlers from the government and the land had been leased from year to year by the Indian Dept. awaiting the final action of Congress upon the location. My understanding of [See?] 2nd of the Act of April 8th is that it is not contemplated to locate a reservation upon land the title of which had been forfeited by gov't and vested in individuals. Provision is made for the purchase of improvements but not for the land itself. For this reason if no other had been considered. I did not feel

that I had authority to locate it is a permanent reservation furthermore I did not wish to locate these reservations in the North unless satisfied that it was absolutely necessay and I had from the first selected Round Valley as one reservation. On the other hand I found it impossible to make any disposition of the Indians or the large amount of supplies and other property on hand written the time remaining before the lease expired. I was therefore under the necessity of leaving a portion of the land for another year and the Indians are now putting in a crop which I defend upon to subsist them until another one shall be raised by them at the place where I intend to remove them by next Spring. It is my present purpose to establish them upon the land formerly occupied as an Indian reservation upon Klamath River and which was abandoned in 1861 but is still reserved by gov't. The Hoopa reservation will either be as extended as to cover this point or it will be kept up as a station attached to that reservation and under the control of the same Agent. Another important object will be attained by the establishment of a station at this place as a care can then be had for the

Office of Indian Affairs San Francisco Cal Jan 17th 1865

Sir:

Enclosed please find bill of Jesse Holladay incurred during Mr Hanson's administration and to which I referred in my communication of 10th Dec 1864.

The bill was contracted at coin price and as we are compelled to depend upon Mr Holladay for all our transportation to Smith River and Hoopa I am anxious that it should be promptly paid.

You will observe that a portion of it has been standing for more than four years and although it is not more urgent and legitimate than other accounts for Mr Hanson's contracting it is of more importance to me because of my dependence on Mr Holladay's steamers for transportation in the absence of funds.

Very Respectfully Your Obt Servant Austin Wiley Supt Ind. Adds Cal

Hon WM P Dole Commisioner Washington D.C.

California [W833?] Austin Wiley San Francisco, Cal, Jan 14, '65

Enc. [illegible] of Jesse Holladay incurred under late Sup Agt. Hanson

See letter to Supt. Wiley Feby 17 1865

[illegible] sent to Wiley same day

[illegible]

[STAMP] RECEIVED AT THE Feb 16 1865 INDIAN BUREAU

Finance

[initials M.G.?]

[W?] 849

I [illegible] your one [illegible] [illegible] [illegible]

[stamped] Recevied at The Indian Bureau Feb 24 1865

California. M. Bay [Dec?] 30 1864

Hon. Wm P. Dole. Com - I. Affairs Washington

For [on?] [illegible] 1863. I wrote & sent you a voucher for $25.15. also [illegible] your [answer?] to say you sent [an?] [under?] to EA Sup Steel of S.F. to pay me shortly after an [illegible] was [illegible] & A. Wiley is now Supt. I [illegible] in him but he could not pay me as he say [illegible] Steel was unable to pay me he also says he has no power to act in the matter without instruction from Washingtion [illegible] I saw you Wileys letter to my agents in S. Francisco you will [on?] for a term [illegible] [illegible] Wiley in the matter over.

[W?] 849 Very Respectfully Your Obt Svt Austin Wiley Supt. Ind Affrs

[Messers?] Kline [C?]

V. California [U?]849 [J?] Walsh (E) Dec 3, '64

Desires Supt. Wiley instructed [sel?] to payment of his voucher for Indian Service in California - Enc. letter from Supt. Wiley

Rec a Feb 24, 65

[Jim M Clover?]

Office of Indian Affairs San Francisco Cal Jan 2nd 1865

Sir,

Will you be kind enough to let me know what action if any has been taken in the matter of any recommendation for a commission for George W.B. Yocom as Agent for Round Valley? If it has not been acted upon before this reaches you I take occasion to renew the recommendation.

So far I have not recommended any one for the Southern District as I have been slow to make up my mind as to the propriety of locating two reservations in the Southern portion of the State. From present appearance I am satisfied that within this year I will be able to concentrate such Indians as are now in my charge upon three reservations. Round Valley and Hoopa in the North and one which I will locate during the coming summer in the South.

In this event we can transfer one of the agents now in the Northern District to the Southern reservations, but will have to keep a specail agent in the South until such transfer can be mande

Very Respectfully of Austin Wiley Supt Ind Affs Cal

Hon WM P. Dole Commisioner