the ensuing November term of court. At the subsequent May term of said court a civil suit in the nature of an action of debt, brought against Payne, in the name of the United States, to recover the statutory penalty of $1,000, was tried, and judgment rendered against him. It is altogether improbable that the judgment can ever be collected from Payne, and the result is that he is at large, organizing another scheme for invasion of the Territory.

I suggest an amendment of the law so that an intruder on Indian lands shall be liable to prosecution for the first and every subsequent offense, and, upon conviction, be punishable, not simply by fine, but by fine and imprisonment; and provision should also be made in the act for confiscation and sale by the government of the entire outfit of an intruder or party of intruders.

Another crying evil, and a never-ending cause of complaint to this office, is the ineffective character of existing laws to prevent

Timber depredations upon Indian lands.

Especially in the Indian Territory, spoliation of valuable walnut timber has been and is still being constantly carried on, and unless some stringent and effective measures are devised to stop it, that whole section of country will be completely denuded of timber; and it is apprehended by those competent to judge, that disastrous climatic effects will follow. The whole subject was fully presented in the report of the Hon. Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1879 (pp. XLVII-XLVIII), and the inefficacy of the law pointed out, with a recommendation for the enactment of such measures as would effectually prevent the wanton cutting or destruction of timber on Indian reservations.

At the second session of the Forty-sixth Congress, Senate bill No. 1812 was introduced, so extending the provisions of section 5388, Revised Statutes, and of other laws of the United States for the protection and preservation of timber belonging to the United States, and for the punishment of offenders who cut, destroy, or take the same, as to make them apply to the preservation of timber upon the following classes of Indian reservations, viz: Lands to which the original Indian title has never been extinguished, but which have not been specially reserved, by treaty, act of Congress, or otherwise, for the use of the Indians, or for other purposes, although the Indians' right of occupancy thereof has been tacitly recognized by the government; lands expressly reserved by treaty or act of Congress or set apart for the use of the Indians by executive order of the President; lands allotted or patented to individual Indians who are not under the laws of any State or Territory; lands patented to Indian tribes; and lands which have been purchased by or ceded to the United States for the purpose of settling Indians thereon, but which are as yet unoccupied. The punishment of offenders committing depredations upon such timber was also provided for by said bill. I cannot too strongly urge the absolute necessity for the early passage of some kindred measure in this behalf.

For the last four years urgent appeals have been made by this office for

The enactment of laws for Indian reservations.

Various measures looking to this end have been introduced in Congress, among the latest being House bill No. 350, Forty-sixth Congress,

second session, which, as amended, was favorably reported by the House Committee on Indian Affairs. This bill reads as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of the laws of the respective States and Territories in which are located Indian reservations, relating to the crimes of murder, manslaughter, arson, rape, burglary, larceny, and robbery, shall be deemed and taken to be the law and in force within such reservations; and the district courts of the United States within and for the respective districts in which such reservations may be located in any State, and the Territorial courts of the respective Territories in which such reservations may be located, shall have original jurisdiction over all such offenses which may be committed within such reservations.

In respect to all that portion of the Indian Territory not set apart and occupied by the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole Indian tribes, the provisions of the laws of the State of Kansas relating to the crimes of murder, manslaughter, arson rape, burglary, larceny, and robbery shall be deemed and taken to be the law and in force therein; and the United States district court held at Fort Scott, Kans., shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all such offenses arising in said portion of the Indian Territory. The place of punishment of any and all of said offenses shall be the same as for other like offenses arising within the jurisdiction of said respective courts.

This bill, as well as others of a kindred nature, died a natural death at the close of the last Congress. In commenting upon this subject the Hon. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in his annual report for 1879, said:

It is a matter of vital importance that action should be taken to secure the passage of the above bill, or of some measure of equal efficiency to provide law for Indians, to the end that order may be secured. A civilized community could not exist as such without law, and a semi-civilized and barbarous people are in a hopeless state of anarchy without its protection and sanction. It is true that the various tribes have regulations and customs of their own, which, however, are founded on superstition and ignorance of the usages of civilized communities, and generally tend to perpetuate feuds and keep alive animosities. To supply their place it is the bounden duty of the government to provide laws suited to the dependent condition of the Indians. The most intelligent amongst them ask for the laws of the white men to enable them to show that Indians can understand and respect law, and the wonder is that such a code was not enacted years ago.

I fully concur in the views above quoted, and earnestly hope that Congress will find time to bestow attention upon this important subject. I also beg to draw attention to the necessity of legislation in regard to

Indian marriages.

This subject has also been fully treated of in prior annual reports of this office. The importance of the enactment of a law to prevent polygamy and to provide for legal marriages among Indians is self-apparent. Irespectfully reiterate the recommendation of my immediate predecessor that the necessity and propriety for such legislation be laid before Congress at its next session.

Other subjects calling for special legislation have already been referred to under appropriate headings, and may be summarized as follows:

Legislation is needed to provide for

Removal of the Mescalero Apaches to the Jicarilla Reservation.

Deficiencies necessarily incurred in current and prior fiscal years.
Increase in number and pay of Indian police.

Establishment of penal reservations for refractory Indians.

Allotment of lands in severalty and issue of patents therefor, with restrictions as to alienation.

Remission of fees and commissions on homestead entries by Indians.

Survey of boundaries of Indian reservations and of arable lands therein.

Prohibition of introduction of liquor on Indian reserves by authority of War Department, and modification of penalty for sale of liquor to Indians.

Relief of Hualapais.

Relief of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewas.

Removal of remainder of Northern Cheyennes from Indian Territory

to Dakota.

Adjustment of status of freedmen in Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. Purchase of Creek lands occupied by Seminoles.

Settlement of estates of deceased Kickapoo allottees, issue of patents to female Kickapoo allottees, &c.

Ratification of cession of portions of Crow and Fort Hall Reserves.
Appraisement and sale of Malheur Reservation.

Sale of portion of Umatilla Reserve occupied by town of Pendleton.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

The Hon. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

H. PRICE,
Commissioner.

REPORTS OF AGENTS.

COLORADO RIVER AGENCY, ARIZONA, August 25, 1881.

SIR: I have the honor, in compliance with section 130, Instructions to Indian Agents, 1880, and in conformity with subsequent circular letter from the Office of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C., to present my first annual report of the condition of the Indian service at this agency.

On the 8th day of August, 1880, I arrived at the agency, and after making a thorough inventory of all the property belonging to the government, and receipting for the same, I assumed charge and control at once, relieving H. R. Mallory.

LOCATION AND SOIL.

The reservation, as enlarged by Executive order, dated May 15, 1876, is embraced within the following-described boundaries: Beginning at a point where the La Paz Arroyo enters the Colorado River, 4 miles above Ehrenberg; thence easterly with said arroyo to a point south of the crest of La Paz Mountain; thence with said mountain crest in a northerly direction to the top of Black Mountain; thence in a northwesterly direction across the Colorado River to the top of Monument Peak in the State of California; thence southwesterly in a straight line to the top of Riverside Mountain, California; thence in a direct line towards the place of beginning, to the west bank of the Colorado River; thence down said west bank to a point opposite the place of beginning; thence to the place of beginning.

The soil within the above-described lines is probably as well adapted to the uses of an Indian reservation as any on or adjacent to the Colorado River; but careful inspection and observation confirm me in the opinion that all efforts to successfully cultivate the same must inevitably result in failure unless some practicable method of irrigation be adopted. At present the cultivation of this extensive tract of land (128,000 acres) is wholly dependent upon the annual overflow of the river. This occurring irregularly, and rarely inundating for two successive years the same tracts (by reason of the shifting sand of which the soil is mostly composed), constitutes a discouragement, almost irresistible, to these Indians, many of whom desire to, and under more auspicious conditions would soon become self-sustaining and comparatively independent. In this connection I desire to impress upon the department the necessity of an appropriation sufficient at least to more thoroughly investigate the feasibility of reclaiming these lands by irrigation.

AGRICULTURAL.

The statistics herewith transmitted contain only an approximate estimate of the amount of land under cultivation and its products. The cultivable land not being contiguous, but lying in small patches, detached by wide, intervening tracts, impregnated with alkali, renders anything more definite than an approximation of its area impossible. A large portion of its products, consisting of beans, pumpkins, melons, and other vegetables, is consumed before their maturity, and of which there is no account kept, and, in consequence, no reliable data attainable.

BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS.

On arriving at the agency I found commodious buildings, ample for all agency purposes (except a corral, slaughter and issue house), in a fair state of preservation, yet much in need of repairs to insure their perpetuity. I at once estimated for, and soon afterwards received authority to purchase in open market, materials for their improvement; but, after expending the same as judiciously as possible, I found my estimate inadequate to complete the repairs which I desired and considered necessary to make. The only material now necessary to put the buildings in good condition is from 80 to 100 barrels of lime, which can be produced on the reserve. I have asked for proper authority to employ the requisite labor for its production, upon receipt of which, if it shall be granted, it is my intention to push vigorously the work of improvement. Relative to the corral, slaughter and issue houses, I submitted some months since, in compliance with instructions from the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs, estimates for these buildings, but, owing to the insufficiency of appropriation, or rather, assignment of funds to this agency, the desired authority was withheld. I hope that the appropriation for the present fiscal year may be sufficient to warrant