The Navajoes are another tribe of the Athabascan group which is far removed from the body of the family. They inhabit the northern part of Arizona and New Mexico, where they have a fine reservation. They have considerable native civilization, not a few of them engaging in agriculture, and in raising horses, sheep, and goats. They weave blankets, which are prized highly throughout the south-west. They are a fine athletic race, and excellent horsemen. While not an aggressive tribe, they have frequently been at war with the whites. They number now 11,850.
The Nez Percés, with the exception of a small portion in Indian Territory, inhabit a reservation in northern Idaho, which includes a part of their ancestral home. They are a fine race, physically and mentally. Until 1877 they had been at peace with the whites. In 1875, a portion of their reservation having been taken from them, owing to the alleged fact that they had not carried out the treaty stipulations, difficulties arose which, two years later, brought on a rupture, and the famous "Nez Percés" war. The disaffected portion of the tribe, numbering some 400 or 500, held out for several months against all the force the Government could bring against them, but were finally captured on the Sweet Grass Hills, in northern Montana. The malcontents were then placed on a reservation in the Indian Territory.
The Modocs are a small tribe, which lived in southern Oregon. They are known mainly from their stubborn resistance to the United States Government in 1872 and 1873, known as the Modoc war. This was caused by an attempt to place them upon a reservation, After some preliminary fighting, the Modocs retreated to the "Lava Beds," a basaltic region, seamed and crevassed, and abounding in caves. Here they made a stand for several months before they were finally subdued. During the war General Canby, commanding the troops, and Dr Thomas, a peace commissioner, were treacherously massacred by them while under a flag of truce. The leaders of this revolt were hanged, and the remainder removed to Indian Territory.
The Pimas, Papagoes, and Maricopas form a semi-civilized community, living on a reservation on the Gila and Santa Cruz rivers in Arizona. Originally they were distributed over the whole south-western portion of that territory. Missions were established among them at an early date by the Spanish Jesuits, and with very good success. At present they are mainly self-supporting, while a large proportion of them wear citizens dress and live in houses. The three tribes now number 10,500.
Pacific Coast Indians.—The Indians upon and near the Pacific coast are divided into a great number of small tribes. Speaking generally, they are lower in the scale of humanity, both physically and mentally, than those of the interior. In northern California, Oregon, and Washington, their principal subsistence was, before the Government undertook their support, the salmon, which in spring crowded the rivers. They are mostly of a mild, peaceful disposition. The Indians of southern California were early taken in charge by the Jesuit missionaries, who Christianized and partly civilized them. Since the settlement of the State by Americans, they have, through neglect, to a large extent relapsed and become worthless members of society.
The name Pueblo (city) is used to designate a number of tribes of town-building Indians in New Mexico. They resemble one another very closely in their surroundings, and in their manners and customs; and their history has been the same. Subdued by Coronado in 1540, they made a successful revolt two years later, but were subdued again in 1586. In 1680 they made another unsuccessful revolt. When the country was ceded to the United States in 1848, these Indians were recognized as citizens, and have since remained so. Their houses are communal, generally but one structure for the whole village. They are sometimes built of stone, but oftener of adobe, several stories high, each story receding from the one below. The common plan is a hollow square, or curved figure, though in some cases the form of a pyramid is followed. Some of the towns are built upon high mesas, almost inaccessible, obviously for purposes of defence. These Indians retain their primitive form of government, each village electing a governor and council. They cultivate the soil, raising grain and vegetables for their own consumption, and keep large Hocks of sheep and goats. Their number is about 9000.
The Moquis are a semi-civilized people living in seven towns on the plateau in northern Arizona. Our first accounts of them date from the expedition of Coronado in 1540. Their history is similar to that of the town-building Indians of New Mexico, except that after a successful revolt against the Spaniards, in 1680, they have remained independent. They are kind-hearted and hospitable, cultivate the soil, raising grain and vegetables, and possessing large flocks of sheep and goats. They weave very fine blankets, an art which they have taught several neighbouring tribes. The houses are built of stone, set in mortar, and for security are perched upon the summits of almost inaccessible mesas. The Moquis numbered 1780 in 1878.
Indian Antiquities.—The ancient remains of the Indians are coextensive with their occupancy of the country, but in general they teach but little concerning their life in prehistoric times. The Atlantic and Gulf coasts are lined with shell-heaps, indicating the sites of ancient villages. Spear or arrow heads are often ploughed up all over the country, relics, it may be, from some well-fought field.
At the copper mines on the northern peninsula of Michigan, there are many evidences that the Indians had been working. Excavations, some of considerable depth, have been found, and in them stone hammers, evidently used in extracting the native copper. Indeed, it is well known that this metal was a common article of commerce among them.
In the south-western territories, however, are found the most interesting remains of this people, in the form of towns, some of great magnitude and extent, built of stone set in mortar. These towns, which were evidently inhabited by a people closely resembling the Moquis and Pueblos, are found in south-western Colorado on the San Juan river and its branches, in north-western New Mexico, in south-eastern Utah, and over the greater part of Arizona. Certain regions appear to have been very densely populated. The largest towns are built in exposed situations, without special precautions for defence, and were plainly inhabited by a mild agricultural race, who were enjoying a period of peace. Others are perched upon high inaccessible mesas, with strong towers for defence and observation, while others, "cave dwellings," are merely walled-in niches in the cliffs of the canons, evidently the last refuge of a hunted, desperate people. Everywhere in the neighbourhood of these ruins are vast quantities of fragments of pottery, some of which is painted in the most elaborate designs. Wicker work and arrow and spear heads are also found in abundance. These extensive ruins, scattered over a large area of country, show that at some time in the past this region, now arid and desert, supported a large population of a degree of civilization fully equal to that of the Pueblos and Moquis of the present clay, and in all probability their ancestors. (H. G.*)
INDIAN TERRITORY
Copyright, 1880, by Henry Gannett.
INDIAN TERRITORY is a tract of land in the southern central portion of the United States, which has been set apart as a reservation for the use of various tribes of Indians. It lies between the parallels of 33° and 37° N. lat. and the meridians of 17° and 23° W. long. of Washington (94° and 100° W. of Greenwich). It is bounded N. by Kansas, E. by Missouri and Arkansas, and S. and W. by Texas. The area is estimated approximately at 69,000 square miles. The eastern portion is fertile and well watered, having an annual rainfall of 40 to 50 inches, and a mean annual temperature of about 60° Fahr. The surface is mainly rolling prairie, with broad stretches of rich land along the streams, and an abundance of timber. This section of the territory is separated from the western part, which presents a different aspect, by a broad belt of forest, known as the "Cross Timbers," which extends nearly across the territory in a north and south direction, marking the outcrop of the Carboniferous formation. Its breadth ranges from 40 to 60 miles.
West of this singular strip of forest the country assumes the appearance of the "Great Plains,"—that long incline which stretches eastward from the base of the Rocky Mountains. The surface is a monotonous, rolling, treeless expanse. The valleys are shallow, and the dividing ridges are broad and slightly marked. The climate is comparatively dry, the average annual rainfall being but 20 to 25 inches; and irrigation is needed for the successful cultivation of most crops. The mean annual temperature is some-
