HOME MISSIONS that much of it is flooded during high water periods, and there are lagoons which are kept filled by the undersurface connection with the river. The rich alluvial soil and almost tropical climate favor a wide range of crops, including, possibly, the date palm. The Colorado River Indian Reservation of 240,000 acres comprises the major portion the valley. It is asserted in the papers that this is an Executive Order reservation, that is to say, it is so much of the public domain withdrawn from homestead entry and, according to one paper, "assigned to about 400 Indians who lead useless lives," and "is for their use only temporarily." That this is an Executive Order reservation appears to be only partially true, and failure to recognize its exact legal status at this time may result in a case before the United States Court of Claims, an allowance of a big sum of money to pay the Indians for land taken from them, as was done recently for the Ute Indians, and some fat fees for lawyers, many of whom have found and are still finding (in Oklahoma) that Indians do not lead, for the lawyers, altogether useless lives. There might be some further ground for questioning the uselessness of Indians' lives compared with those of some other people if space permitted, though I am constrained to refer in this connection to an incident that occurred a year or so ago on the Colorado River between Parker and Needles, when the route to and from Parker was by the river in small boats, or, as an alternative, a two-day drive overland, camping one night. A boat was going up the river, and in attempting to pass a dangerous stretch of water where there were strong currents and whirlpools, an accident took place in which a white woman with her baby in arms fell from the boat into the river. Two of these "400 Indians who lead useless lives," who were on the boat as helpers, sprang to the rescue of the woman and baby and succeeded in getting them to a floating plank, by which means they were ultimately saved. But the plank did not have buoyancy enough for all, and one of the Indians deliberately left it and was drowned. As to the status of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, according to early reports of the Indian Office, this reservation was originally established by an Act of Congress in 1865. This Act set aside 117 square miles, or nearly 75,000 acres in the heart of the area 69 now included in the reservation. By three Executive Orders, dated November 22, 1873; November 16, 1874, and May 15, 1876, the reservation boundaries were extended and made to include 240,000 acres, 200,000 of which are on the Arizona side of the river, the remainder being on the California side. The Indians for whom this reservation was established by Act of Congress 45 years ago were not simply the 400 Mohaves now living there, but included the Yumas, Walapais and Chemehuevis. Executive Order reservations were later established for the Yumas and the Walapais, but the Chemehuevis are now, for the most part, living on the public domain on the California side of the Colorado River. For unknown generations these Indians have lived along the Colorado River, supporting themselves in part by crops grown on the overflow land after the recession of the flood water, according to the manner of the inhabitants of Egypt along the Nile. Then 45 years ago when our government told them they must establish homes and develop means of livelihood within more restricted areas than they had been accustomed to occupy, the reservation was established, and promises given of help in the way of instruction and means to irrigate their land. It is true that nearly 40 years ago the government began the construction of an irrigation system which, had it been successfully completed, would have put water on 40,000 to 50,000 acres of land. A feature of this early project was an attempt to tunnel the mesa at Headgate Rock, but the work was so poorly done that on turning the water in, the tunnel soon caved in and the work was destroyed, resulting later in the complete abandonment of the project, after an expenditure of $125,000. Sixteen years later, in 1892, the government made an appropriation for a 60-horsepower pumping plant, and a year later the agent reported that the pumps were in successful operation and the Indians were in ecstasies over having water put on their land; but the following year, 1894, he reported the pumps as not being satisfactory and recommended, unless adequate provision for irrigation could be made, that the agency and the Indians be removed to Fort Mohave, above Needles. Since then provision has been made to irrigate by pumping a few hundred acres of land. Nearly 50 years ago the government, by Act of Congress, provided land for homes for the Mohave and other Colorado River Indians, and agreed, inferentially at least, to put the land in condition so that these people could make a living on it. The obligation assumed by the government is far from being discharged. I am not informed as to the present status of the project, or what action the Indian Office is taking with reference to the rights of the Indians, who were given title by the Act of Congress of 1865 to the 75,000 acres comprising the original Colorado River Reservation; but I believe the Office should, and the public, if made acquainted with the facts, will support the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in insisting on a "square deal" to the Indians. As stated above, the Chemehuevis, now living on the public domain, and the Walapais were included with the Indians for whom the Colorado River Reservation was established. And while the Walapais were later given an Executive Order reservation, such an one as it is declared, gives the Indians no title to the land, it is a very barren area with practically no arable land. Their needs, and those of the Chemehuevis for tillable land, should be provided for on the original Colorado River Reservation. Suppose there are 1,000 Mohaves, Walapais, and Chemehuevis to be provided with land, and but 10 acres per capita should be put aside for them for home-making purposes. That would take 10,000 acres out of the 75,000 given them by the Act of Congress of 1865. The remaining 65,000 acres are worth, as the land lies, without a stroke of development work put upon it, at the very minimum $10 per acre, or a total of $650,000, enough to meet all cost of providing the 10,000 with a complete system of irrigation, improve each 10-acre allotment with a house and other home requirements, build schools, etc., and still there would be 165,000 acres of Executive Order land left for exploitation. If the Indians' rights in the Colorado River Reservation land are properly conserved, there is enough value in these to amply provide for them, without the expenditure of a dollar of federal funds, and still leave fortunes for exploiting capital. MISSIONS AND SCHOOLS IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON REV. D. D. ALLEN, Missionary to the Puyallup, Nesqually and Scattered Indian Tribes of the Northwest. Ο UR experience has taught us that in connection with every government school, there should be a well-manned mission station; and that the Indian people should be taught the knowledge of the Lord Jesus as their Saviour and their obligation to God and their fellowman, as a very necessary part of their education, without which their education will avail them but little. This is necessary in order to get them away from their old environments, and to confirm them in a right course of thinking. They should not only be taught that they are capable of acquiring an education, but that God wants them to use it to His glory, and for the betterment of mankind. An Indian and his sixteen-year-old boy drove up to a livery barn to remove a load of hay, which had been baled with an old-time baler. The tags on the bales read, 250 and 300 pounds. When asked why the bales were so marked, the Indian said the boy did the weighing and marking.. When some of the bales were weighed, they registered 75 and 80 pounds. When the boy was asked why he had put such figures on the tags, he answered, "What is the use of getting an education, if you can't use it?" He had been to school and had acquired an education of the head, bu his heart had not been enlightened, and he was using his education neither for the glory of God nor for the good of men. Our government has done wisely and nobly by the Indians, in giving them schools in which is provided everything necessary for giving to their HOME MISSIONS children a thorough grammar school education. The government aims to secure the best teachers, and give them a salary which will enable them to devote their whole time to their work, and gives such facilities as will enable the pupil to make the most rapid progress and to graduate from the eighth grade on a par with the children of any other race of people. The government makes no provision for chaplains in the Indian schools, but the church is encouraged to come in and train the children along spiritual lines. Here is afforded to the church a wonderful opportunity of doing a work that may be far-reaching in its results, e. g., in the Cushman Industrial School, at 71 The Indian Department of the government, not only gives the privilege of holding the necessary services on the Sabbath, but also allows the missionary to have two hours with the pupils during the week. We have visited some of the tribes represented in the school, and in some cases we have found very great spiritual dearth. We have gone a few times to the Quinaielt reservation, on the Pacific beach, where there is located on a small scale, one of the best fishing grounds in the United States. The government has provided a school for many years. The younger portion of the tribe have acquired some degree of education, but they have had Tacoma, are representatives of about twenty different tribes of Indians. Not all of these tribes are reached by the gospel. Some of them very seldom have a gospel service of any kind. Last year over 50 of the pupils in the school, gave themselves to Christ and united with the church, and are being trained each Sabbath in Sabbath-school and Christian Endeavor work. It has only been during the past year that the school has been transformed into an industrial school. There are now about 220 pupils in the school, but the plant has been enlarged and equipments have been provided to accommodate 300 to 400 pupils. There are representatives here from the tribes of western Washington, and some from no missionary to give them spiritual training, only as we have been able to visit them two or three times during the year. The Sabbath is observed as any other day. They will come to church when we visit them, but the services are so far between that it is hard to make any permanent impression on them, and what little impression is made soon wears off. The last time we held services with them, many of the young people came to church on Sabbath morning, and as we passed by where the boys were playing a matched game of ball in the afternoon, one of them, a large hearted, noble young fellow, came running to us and said, the boys would like for us to hold the evening service early, so they could attend the dance went without his supper that he might do the janitor work and attend church. Six members of the tribe have been received into the church here at the industrial school. The Quinaielt reservation has been surveyed, and allotments have been given to each member of the tribe. While there were only about 150 members of the tribe, other Indians, who have had no allotment, have come in and been adopted into the Quinaielt tribe, and been given allotments, and still others are expected to come and join the tribe, until the tribe will number perhaps 1,000 to 1,300. We have long been trying to prevail on our Home Board to send a missionary to Quinaielt, but have al Iways met with the reply, that the necessary funds were not available. But our importunate prayer has at last been heard. About two months ago, Rev. T. C. Moffett, D.D., our Superintendent of Indian Missions, wrote us that if we could find a man suitable for the Quinaielt field, they were ready to commission him for the work. While we have been praying earnestly that the Lord will help us to find the right man, we have also asked the Lord to lay the work so heavily on the heart of some godly young man who would like to do real missionary work, that he will earnestly cry out: "Lord here am I, send me." HOME MISSIONS We have many times been asked the question: "Does it pay to support missions among the Indians?" We might as well ask, Does it pay to support missions among the Chinese, among the negroes, or among the mountaineers. We hear the Blessed Master say: "Go, 73 disciple all nations," and, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Among the 178 Indians whom it has been our privilege to receive into the church, we have found some of the most devoted Christians that we have ever known. F INDIAN SELF-HELP BY JOHN P. WILLIAMSON, D.D. ORTY years' training in the wilderness was necessary to prepare the Children of Israel for the promised land. How many years will be required to train a tribe of American Indians for independent Christianity? Will forty years suffice? No, the Children of Israel were already worshippers of God, whereas the Indians have been worshippers of idols from time immemorial. Generations are required to establish the faith of a nation. Some of our American Indians have had more or less instruction for 200 years, and can hardly be called Christian tribes yet. However, in the light of church history, we may well be encouraged at the progress made. The Dakotas are one of the largest Indian tribes, and most thoroughly entrenched in idol worship. The first missionary commissioned to labor among them was a Presbyterian, and entered upon his work 75 years Presbytery of Dakota Indian churches, thirtytwo in number, is the result. Other churches have also entered the field. The Congregationalists have nearly as many churches as we, the Episcopalians more, and the Roman Catholics have a large constituency. So there are now about 5,000 communicants of all denominations among the 25,000 Dakota Indians. Under their influence idol worship in public is a thing of the past. But is Christianity established? This is doubtful. Withdraw outside aid and influence, and the plant would certainly wither,perhaps die. As yet the churches are largely supported by outside help, and schools are entirely so supported. Training in self-support is now the great demand. To obtain it we must have more industry and economy, as well as consecration. As Presbyterians were the first organized Christian workers, sw.they should naturet ally take the lead |