Viewing page 109 of 485

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

[[preprinted]] 107 [[/preprinted]]

Kamiah, Nez Perce Res. Idaho. Aug 27, 89.

My dear Mr Morgan,
Ever since your kind invitation by Mrs Morgan's hand, asking me to tell you of matters here, I have desired to find the time to reply, because I so fully appreciate your wish to really do something to better the Indians, and the difficulty of getting practical and trusty information. I have watched so many "investigations", that I am left to wonder, not that so little, but so much in the way of truth ever reaches the higher official end.

My reports will tell you how strangely misinformed the department has been as to the nature of this land, & the statements concerning the avocations of the people are equally misleading. Except to have garden patches, and small fields where a little grain can ripen, the land, with our present knowledge of how to overcome aridity of soil and climate, is not suited to farming. There is no way to get the grain to market, even if it were raised, as the bulk of the reservation lies East of Craigs Mtn, and the road over this Mt. is the only way out to the outside world. CaƱons and mountain ranges hedge the entire country to the North, East, & South. Grazing