GENERAL NOTES.
THE INDIANS.
—The Indian Bureau reports that the number of self-supporting Indians cannot be precisely stated, but gives the following as a fair estimate: Wholly or almost entirely self-supporting, 105,939; partially self-supporting, 44,119; wholly dependent on government rations, 50,882; these figures do not include the five civilized tribes in the Indian Territory, numbering 59,187. At Crow Creek Agency, Dakota, 60,000 of the 500,000 acres of reservation land had been taken up by 235 out of 325 neighboring families, of whom 208 had broken ground, cultivating an average of five acres apiece. Their title is a certificate from the Secretary of the Interior, and can be made valid only by an act of Congress.
—Rev. A. J. Biddle, in speaking of the American Indian, gives the following incident with which he was personally acquainted, as a typical case: An Indian and his wife left their tribe in the state of Oregon, came among the white settlers upon an excellent farm, built their cabin, assumed the garb of civilization, and were exceedingly earnest in their endeavors to be as their neighbors. The wife eagerly sought instruction from her white sisters in housekeeping. The husband was as eager to know how to farm. They were succeeding nicely, contented and happy in their new home and new civilization. One day two white men came along, saw this farm; it was fertile and well improved; they coveted it; asked the Indian to sell it; he refused. They determined to have it; so, a few days later, they returned when no white witnesses were present, shot the Indian in his own door-yard, drove the frightened wife away and took possession of the property. Nor were they ever molested. No one saw the crime but the Indian wife. No court would listen to her story, so the matter ended, with the pleasant home desolated, the murderers eating the fruit of their crime.