152 INDIANS ON THE ROUTE. 



The numbers of the four tribes of the Blackfeet nation are taken from Mr. Doty s enumera 

 tion. It is less than that of Mr. Stanley, who visited the Piegans in September last, and whose 

 estimate of the Piegans, Bloods, and Blackfeet, was, 1,330 lodges and 13,300 souls; and it is 

 likewise less than my enumeration, derived from consulting all reliable sources of information 

 in the upper Missouri, and which made the four tribes of the Gros Ventres, Bloods, Piegans, and 

 Blackfeet, amount to 14,400, or 5,230 more than the estimate of Mr. Doty. Mr. Doty has, how 

 ever, had the opportunity of making an actual count of more than half these Indians, and his 

 estimate cannot be far from the mark. The Assiniboins and Crees are an estimate. 



It is with great satisfaction I submit the interesting reports of Mr. Gibbs, Lieutenant Mullan, 

 and Mr. Doty, in regard to Indian matters, for they show the great interest taken in this subject 

 by the officers of the exploration ; the thorough manner in which our Indian relations have been 

 investigated ; and they conclusively rebut any presumption prejudicial to the route as a practicable 

 route for a railroad, growing out of any supposed hostilities on the part of the Indian tribes. I 

 do not consider that a preliminary report furnishes the appropriate occasion to go into any exami 

 nation of questions of Indian policy, or details of Indian administration, further than the general 

 views which I have already presented. I have thought it best, however, to submit the reports 

 as they are, in order to bring them at once before the public, in view of their connexion with 

 the great object of the exploration, viz: determining the whole question by route, grades, snows, 

 obstructions from Indians, reserving the full experience of my own views, in matters purely admin 

 istrative, to my reports to the Indian Bureau. The settlement of Indian matters in the Territory 

 in the region east of the mountains has become urgent. 



The attention of settlers has already been called to many pleasant valleys, both east and west 

 of the Rocky mountains, and between the Cascades and the Bitter Root mountains. I am 

 satisfied a portion of the emigration to Washington and Oregon will, after this year, be by the 

 passes explored under my direction. A good connexion undoubtedly exists between these 

 passes and the Platte, which will not only furnish a good route, but a short one. 



The route, after the first wagons have passed over, will indeed be better; grass and wood more 

 abundant, and water better ; distance less. 



