17(i MYTHS OF THE CHKROKKK ]kth. axn. I'.i 



sioiicr of liuli;iii Atl'uir.s later in the .same year, and wa.s i-eiiewed In- 

 successive eoininissioners to cover the period of ten years endiiij;' June 

 30, 1892, when the contract system was terminated and the (iovern- 

 ment assumed direct control. Under the joint arrangement, with some 

 aid at the outset from the North Carolina Meeting, work was begun 

 in 1S81 ])V Thomas Brown witii several teachers sent out by the Indiana 

 Friends, who established a small training school at the agenc}' head- 

 quarters at Cherokee, and several day schools in the outljdng settle- 

 ments. He was succeeded three years latei' by H. W. Spray, an expe- 

 rienced educator, who, with a corps of ethcient assistants and greatlj' 

 enlarged facilities, continued to do good work for the elevation of the 

 Indians until the close of the contract system eight years later.' After 

 an interregnum, during which the schools suffered from frequent 

 changes, he was reappointed as government agent and superintendent 

 in 1898, a position which he still holds in 1901. To the work con- 

 ducted under his auspices the East Cherokee owe much of what they 

 have to-day of civilization and erdightenment. 



From some travelers who visited the reservation about this time we 

 have a pleasant account of a trip along Soco and a day with Chief 

 Smith at Yellow Hill. They describe the Indians as being so nearly 

 like the whites in their manner of living that a stranger could rarelj* 

 distinguish an Indian's cabin or little cove farm from that of a white 

 man. Their principal crop was corn, which they ground for them- 

 selves, and they had also an abundance of apples, peaches, and plums, 

 and a few small herds of ponies and cattle. Their M'ants were so tew 

 that they had but little ust> for money. Their primitive costume had 

 long been obsolete, and their dress was like that of the whites, except- 

 ing that moccasins took the place of shoes, and they manufactured 

 their own clothing by the aid of spinning-wheels and looms. Finely 

 cut j)ipes and well-made baskets were also produced, and the good 

 influence of the schools recentl}' established was already manifest in 

 the children.^ 



In 1882 the agency was reestablished and provision was made for 

 taking a new census of all Cherokee east of the Mississippi, Joseph 

 Gr. Hester being appointed to the work.^ The census was submitted 

 as complete in June, 1884, and contained the names of 1.881 persons in 

 North Carolina, 758 in Georgia, 213 in Tennessee, 71 in Alal)ama. and 

 33 scattering, a total of 2,95t).* Although this census received the 

 approval and certificate of the East Cherokee council, a large portion 

 of the band still refuse to recognize it as authoritative, claiming thiit 

 a large number of persons therein enrolled have no Cherokee blood. 



"See Commissioner T.J. Morgan. Report of Indian Commissioner, pp. 141-14.5. 1892; autlior's per- 

 sonal information from B. C. Hobbs, chief N. .1. Smitii, and others. For further notice of school 

 growth see also Report of Indian Commissioner, pp. 426—127, 1897. 



-Zeigler and Grosscup, Heart of the Alleghanies. pp. 36-42, 1883. 



3 Commis-sioner H. Price, Report of Indian Commis.sioner, pp. Ixix-lxx, 1882. 



^ Report of Indian Commissioner, pp. li-lii, 1884. 



