6 C. F. COAN
was recommended that a commission be appointed to report on the subject of Indian policy in the territories of New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and the states of Texas and California. The reasons for urging the immediate adop- tion of a plan for dealing with these Indians were : the increase in the number of depredations committed by the Indians on the settlers; the losses sustained by the government, which was responsible to the settlers under the law, since it failed to restrain the Indians ; the necessity for the colonization of the Indians if they were to be saved from extermination ; and the inexpensiveness of the reservation system as compared with the constant use of the military force to keep the peace. The Commissioner was, quite evidently, in favor of colonizing the Indians. 14
A special report was submitted to Congress, February 9, 1854, by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in which he advised that treaties be speedily made with the Indians of Oregon and Washington, both east and west of the Cascade Mountains. It was this report, based on Palmer's report of October 8, 1853, that determined the policy of treaties and reservations for the Indians of Oregon and Washington. The report recommended that Congress appropriate $68,000 to pay the expenses of negotiating the treaties and to pay the first installment of the annuities. This action was stated to be necessary ; because the lands of the Indians were being taken by the whites ; because the government had encouraged the settlement of the region ; because the prosperity of the coun- try was delayed by the uncertainty of peace ; because an extensive outbreak was probable unless the Indians were pacified ; because hostilities were caused by the absence of treaties ; and because it was desirable that there be peace with the Indians along the routes of the railroad projects. 15 This recommendation led to the decision on the part of the gov- ernment to make treaties with the Indians of Oregon and Washington. Later recommendations only tended to strengthen the belief on the part of the Indian office that the situation
14 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Annual Report, Nov. 26, 1853 (Serial 710, Doc. i), p. 260.
1 5 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to the Secretary of the Interior, Feb. 6, 1854, op. cit., p. 3.
