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time, and uses up horses. Frequently to thus dispatch my driver & interpreter for an Indian whom I need to see consumes the better part of a day, causing me delay, whereas if I had a man who I could send to summon Indians when they are needed, time would be saved. I have found few Indians willing to walk 10, 20, 30 miles to carry a message, and receive no pay for themselves or their horses. 

The nearest mail station to this part of the reservation is about 20 to 22 miles. It takes a man all day to go and return and as the mail comes to this station but once a week, I have had to send there weekly in order to keep up communication with Washington and the Surveyor General of Idaho. It has been a great inconvenience to spare my driver & interpreter for this work and has proved an injury to my horses. I have not been able to use them for this service for some weeks past.

The nearest blacksmith is over 30 miles distant. It takes two days to get the horses shod, and involves lodging and one meal at least for the man taking them. To be obliged to send my driver and interpreter on this journey delays my work.

I have to cross rivers where the horses must swim and their packs be carried over in a canoe. All this work requires extra help. The drought and denudation of the reservation by white man's cattle has made it absolutely needful for me to transport grain for my team, otherwise