Service on the Indian Reservations

S E RV I C E O N T HE T I N I N D IAN RES ERVA O S . BEI N G T HE EX P E RI E N CE S O F A S P ECIAL I N D IA N AG E N T WHI L E I N S PECT I N G A G EN CI ES A N D S E RVI N G A S AGENT FO RVA RI OUS TRI BES ; I N CL UD I N G EXPLANATIONS O F HO WT HE G OVERNM ENT S ERVIC E I S CO N DUCTED O N T HE RES ERVATIO N S ; DESCRI PTION S O F AGENCIES ; AN ECDOTES I LLUSTRATING T HE S A N D HABITS , CU TOMS , PECULIARITI ES O F T HE IN DIANS ; A N D HUM RU ANED TE AN D T RE F TRAVEL O O S C O S S O I S O . By E . E . W H I T E . I I S RA T D La x U T E . 1 8 COPYRIGHT , 9 3 , Y . B E . E WHITE rv ed (A ll Right s R ese . ) D I P L O M A P R ES S . Y A R K A N S A S D EM O C RA T CO M PA N , L I T T L E R O C K . 1 893 . I N T R O D U C T I O N . H E C APT R I . — APPOINTED SPECIAL INDIAN AGENT ORDERED T O — ~ — WASHINGTON SWINDLED A N D LAUGHED A T A C “ —T O QUIRING EXPERIENCE NORTH CAROLINA . N the United States Ind ian service there are five a fift - Speci l Agents , five Inspectors and yeight A Agents . The gents have perso nal su pervision and f t he control , within certain limitations , of all a fairs on various Reservations , and in many cases several separate f Reservations , and several di ferent tribes , or remnants of tribes , are under the j urisd iction of one Agency . The d uty of the Special A gents and Inspectors is to A v isit and inspect the gencies fro m time to time , and investigate all complaints concerning the Ind ians or f af airs on the Reservations . Special Agents are also often detailed to serve as Agents for indefinite terms . The Special A gents are u nder the im med iate d i r ec f tion and control of the Co mmissioner of Ind ian A fairs , and the Inspectors are in like manner subord inate to t he Secretary of the I nterior . 4 O N N SERVICE THE INDIAN RESERVATIO S . There being no separate circu its , or prescribed time A for the inspection of gencies , each of the Special A gents and Inspectors has a field of d uty coextensive with the limits of the United States , and is required to go wherever and whenever he may hap pen to be ordered . N otice of my appointmen t to be a Special Agent wa s a cco mpanied by an order to report in person at the I n fi in d ian Of ce , Washingto n . Presenting myself to the Co m missioner , I was informed that the p urpose of the order was to enable me to receive a co urse of instruction at the D epartment before entering u pon my d uties in the field . Fro m the first information of my appointment I had been op pressed with a d istrust of my ab ility to meet the require ments of the service . I was shown at the D e a r t m en t p , and , as I fancied , not in co mpliment , b ut rather in derision , that I was the youngest Special A gent then in the service by twenty years , and in add i tion to my inexperience in age , I was a stranger both to me Indians and the Ind ian service . I n reco m mend ing m for appointment yfriends had probably u rged , in lieu of experience , my ordinary business qualifications , and what they believed to be so me natural adaptability to k that ind of service . When I wa s deemed well enough informed to take f the field , notice was u no ficially co m mu nicated to me O F N 5 EXPERIENCES A SPECIAL INDIAN AGE T . that I wo uld be first sent on a sort of training trip to the E N astern Band of Cherokees , in orth Carolina . This information co uld not have been more acceptable to me wa s if it had been designed as a sp ecial favor , because I u nwillin g to be sent to the large Agencies in th e West u ntil I possessed more knowled ge of the service than it os s ibl e ' t o was p acqu ire in Washington . Bu t having accepted the appointment , I was eager to veteranize myself and acqu ire that peculiar accomplish “ ment called experience . My first lesson , however , a hi which I received even before I got o ut of W s ngton , like many others which followed , was in the highest degree u nsatisfactory . I m ay say that it conformed exactly to my idea of a mean trick , in my then unso his t ica t ed p state , and , in add ition to wou nding my pride most grievo usly it cost me a dollar , and , so far as I a s know , h never profited me anything in return . It occurred as follows : O n the morning of the day named in my orders for my departu re fro m Washington , I went to the D epartment to receive the special in s t r u c t ions which I had been told wo uld be ready for me at ’ 9 o clock . B ut being d etained beyond that hour , I fou nd to my d ismay , u pon retu rning to the hotel , that it lacked only a few m inutes of train time . I had ascertained that I should depart fro m the Baltimore 6 SERVICE ON THE INDIAN RESERVATIONS . wa s Potomac depot , but ignorant of its location . I sup it wa s posed so mewhere toward the o utskirts of the city . The hotel at which I was stop ping is situated on n wa Pennsylvania Avenue , less tha half yfrom the Cap it o l to the White Ho use H urrying out on the curb a stone , I hailed cab and inqu ired of the driver , and with n manifest a xiety , I now have no doubt , if he co uld get me to the Baltimore 8: Poto mac depot in time for the n h is h trai . Glancing hastily at watc , he said ’ M ay be I can , if yo u ll j u mp in qu ick . Detectin g a rascally gleam in his eye as he said that , the thou ght flashed throu gh my m ind that his intention wa s to secure my fare , with no id ea of gettin g me to the train . h For t at reason I told hi m , and with more vehemence , wa s I am now willing to ad mit , than necessary , that I would pay him a dollar—double fare—to get m e to the depot in time , b u t not a cent if he failed . of It was a pleasant autu mn day , and a grou p ten or twelve distinguished looking men—Senators and Mem — bers of Congress , I imagined were standing in front of n the hotel . My egotiations with the cab man attracting their attention , they suspended conversation amon g themselves and looked at me in an amused sort of way , which at the time I d id not comprehend . A s I stepped into the cab the driver sprang to his seat , gave his horse a cu t with the whip , and we dashed O F EXPERIENCES A SPECIAL INDIAN AGENT . 7 nearly straight across the street , stopp ing in front of a h large brick ou se j ust a little beyond , and in full view of the hotel . D is mo unting qu ickly and jerkin g the O cab door pen , the driver called o ut H ere ye air ! ' ? ” H ere ye air what I d emanded . Baltimore Poto mac depot . Train goes in ten minutes , he replied . A s I alighted fro m the cab and gave u p the dollar , I looked back across th e street . The men in front of the “ s eem ed hotel threw kisses to me , and to say , Call again ! 9" N I proceeded d irect to Charleston , orth Carolina . k The Chero ee Reservation , known as Q ualla Bou ndary , k lies in Swain and Jac son Counties , in the extreme o f T enn es s ee southwest corner of the State , near the line and Georgia . Charleston is the seat of the Agency , thou gh not within the Bou nd ary . This pretty little m ountain town occupies a p i c t u r T u c k a s ee ee esque situation on both banks of the g River , ' a beautiful tributary of the Tennessee . Here I had my N e headquarters during my stay in orth Carolina , a p r i od of two months .

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