The American Indian in the United States, Period 1850-1914 / ... The Present Condition of the American Indian; His Political History and Other Topics; A Plea for Justice

by Warren K. Moorehead

As the country settled up, white settlers appropriated the water from the Gila, Salt and other streams and these Indians were much reduced. Many of them became paupers. The larger portion of the Papago left their ancient homes and located on the public domain, seeking only to be removed from white persons.

As in the case of all other Indians, the Government has established schools, and Agents, Superintendents, physicians, and employees may be found wherever there are a considerable number of Indians congregated together.

It became known that the very existence of the Pima and the Papago, as well as the Yuma, was threatened because of the changed conditions, the influx of Whites, and the haste on our part to make of these Indians citizens in the full sense of the word. Water is the very life of all desert Indians. With white people appropriating the bulk of it, very little was left for the Indians. Hence various irrigation schemes were set on foot. It would be very interesting to discuss how that we have improved their condition and made available a large acreage in some places, yet in others we carelessly sank wells deep into alkali-bearing ground and thus ruined unnumbered acres; but space forbids discussion of this subject.

The Board of Indian Commissioners late last year, through its Chairman, Honorable George Vaux, Jr., commissioned Rev. William H. Ketcham, Director of Catholic Missions, and Rev. Samuel A. Eliot, President of the Unitarian Association, and both members of our Board, to visit these various Indians and recommend what should be done for them. Their findings were published in pamphlet form, but merit wider circulation. I herewith append their remarks on the Papago.

“Land. Approximately 5,000 Papago Indians are living, as they have lived since they were first known to history, on the public domain in Pima and Pinal Counties. They are an industrious and self-supporting people and maintain the habits of life that have been theirs for many generations. They know no other home than the desert and are able to sustain life under conditions which would be difficult, if not impossible, for white people. These Indians on the public domain are more or less nomadic, moving from two to four times each year from their farms in the valleys to the ranges on the foothills. They are scattered in some fifty or sixty small villages over a vast tract of desert and mountain country. On their farms, which they break out of the desert wherever water can be obtained, they raise two crops a year, in summer raising beans, peas, squashes, melons and corn, and in winter wheat and a little barley. Each family or village owns some cattle, horses and mules. Their tribal customs are good and the habits of family life, while exceedingly primitive, are excellent. The Franciscan Fathers have for some time maintained missions and a few schools among these nomadic Papagoes and the Presbyterian Board of Missions has also several chapels and schools in the chief villages.

“These Papagoes on the public domain have no title whatsoever to the lands where they have made their homes from time immemorial The desert nature of their country is such that thus far they have had little contact with white settlers. The time is, however, fast approaching when the better parts of the land which they occupy will be desired by white settlers or prospectors. A railroad project, the Tucson-Ajo Railroad, has already put a survey through the Santa Rosa Valley for the purpose of transporting the output of the Ajo Mines in Southern Arizona to market and opening the country to settlement. If this project is completed it will mean the coming of Whites into this territory and inevitably imperil the continued occupation by the Indians of the irrigable lands. In order to preserve the rights of these people it is our judgment that a number of Executive Order Reservations drawn upon lines to be recommended by the Department of the Interior should at once be made. The reservations should contain the lands adjacent to the villages which are needed for farming and grazing purposes and sufficient sources of water supply for irrigation, stock and domestic use. The village sites and the water sources should be held in common. The allotments heretofore made to Indians upon the public domain should then be cancelled where actual residence has not been established. Any delay will greatly imperil the character and prospects of these self-sustaining Indians, who have never had any trouble with white men, and who deserve the sympathy and protection of the Government.

“An almost equally urgent situation exists on the Papago Reservation itself. The Indian population on the reservation is mostly centered about the Agency at San Xavier. This is the only part of the reservation where there is water. The remainder is arid and uninhabitable. These Indians are also self-supporting and well governed by their own tribal laws and chiefs. Their farms are productive, wherever water can be secured, and they have good habits, so long as they remain beyond the evil influences of the neighboring city. Their continued welfare is obviously dependent upon the supply of water. The Tucson Farms Company has acquired practically all the land between the Agency and the City of Tucson, and is opening this land for cultivation. The Farms Company also owns the land bordering the reservation on the east and a considerable tract to the south of the reservation. There is naturally some conflict as to the water rights between the Farms Company and the Indians. The welfare of the City of Tucson can evidently be promoted by increasing the agricultural productiveness of the land held by the Farms Company and the plans by which the Farms Company hopes to encourage settlement are well-devised, but it must be borne in mind that the Indians, who have lived at San Xavier for many generations, have the prior claim upon the water supply. It is hoped and expected that there is in the Santa Cruz Valley enough water for both the Indians and the incoming white settlers, but the utmost vigilance will be necessary to protect the rights of the Indians to the water which is absolutely essential to their well-being.

“The trust patents under which most of the Indians near the Agency hold their allotments will expire in the course of the next two or three years. The officers of the Farms Company evidently expect at that time to acquire title to the Indian lands together with any improvements which the Indians or the Indian Service may have made. It is much to be feared that the Indians will too readily yield to this temptation to sell their lands. We earnestly recommend that these trust patents be extended and the Indians thus protected. It appears that the lines of the original allotments were badly surveyed, and the present fences or boundaries of the Indian allotments do not conform to the survey. If, therefore, an Indian should sell his allotment, he will very probably be selling the land occupied by the homestead of another Indian. We recommend, therefore, that new allotments be made to the Papago Indians living at San Xavier, and that trust patents be dated from the time of the new allotment. By the adoption of this plan not only the lines of the allotments will be correctly adjusted, but also the Indians will be protected in the possession of their lands.

“We understand there is litigation pending between the Government and the Tucson Farms Company in regard to the title to the Berger Ranch at San Xavier. The Agency offices and residence have always been located in the buildings of this ranch and it is obvious that the Government must own and control the property. The suit should be pressed to settlement and title established.