Smithsonian Institution, 



Bureau of Ethnology, 

 Washington, D. C, February 12, 1880. 



Eleven years ago ethnographic research among North American 

 Indians was commenced by myself and my assistants while making explo- 

 rations on the Colorado River and its tributaries. From that time to the 

 present such investigations have been in progress. 



During this time the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution placed 

 in my hands a large amount of material collected by its collaborators 

 relating to Indian languages and other matters, to be used, in conjunction 

 with the materials collected under my direction, in the preparation of a 

 series of publications on North American Ethnology. In pursuing this work 

 two volumes have already been published, a third isin press, and a number 

 of others are in course of preparation. 



The work originally begun as an incident to a geographical and geo- 

 logical survey has steadily grown in proportions until a large number of 

 assistants and collaborators are engaged in the collection of materials and 

 the preparation of memoirs on a variety of subjects relating to the North 

 American Indians. The subject under investigation is of great magnitude. 

 More than five hundred languages, belonging to about seventy distinct, 

 stocks or families, are spoken by these Indians ; and in all other branches 

 of this ethnic research a like variety of subject-matter exists. It will thus 

 be seen that the materials for a systematic and comprehensive treatment of 

 this subject can only be obtained by the combined labor of many men. My 

 experience has demonstrated that a deep interest in Anthropology is widely 

 spread among the educated people of the country, as from every hand 

 assistance is tendered, and thus valuable material is steadily accumulating; 

 but experience has also demonstrated that much effort is lost for want of a 



