37 



that it was only 14S miles, and his official survey is now on 

 record in Cheyenne. 



It thus appears that the Indian Bureau has for years, knowingly, 

 paid to a member of the Indian Ring over fifteen thousand dollars 

 per annum for service that was not performed. 



I think it fairly follows from the evidence I have now presented, 

 that the samples of rations Red Cloud gave me to show to you 

 represent the average quality of the supplies issued to his people, 

 at least during the time of my visit ; that this chief's complaints 

 of his agent, which I brought to you, were literally true ; and 

 that the frauds in Annuity goods and beef cattle, which he de- 

 clared to exist, were not over-stated. 



The great difficulty in ascertaining the extent of these frauds, 

 or even in making any investigation, is largely due to the fact, that 

 the Interior Department has retained none of the original samples 

 on which the purchases for Indians were made during the last 

 fiscal year ; the only sample known to the Department to exist 

 being that of flour, at Cheyenne, where gross frauds have been 

 committed. This difficulty is further increased by the failure of 

 the Indian Bureau to transmit the accounts of Agent Saville 

 for the last year to the Treasury Department, as required by law. 



The responsibility for all this mismanagement and fraud should 

 rest with Secretary Delano and Commissioner Smith, who have 

 long known of the abuses at Red Cloud Agency. No less than 

 five special Commissioners, or other officials, appointed and paid 

 by the Department of the Interior, had personally investigated 

 this agency before my visit, and given that Department informa- 

 tion indicating the bad state of affairs there. 



A portion of the responsibility for the inferior goods and supplies 

 purchased last year should, perhaps, attach to Messrs. F. H. Smith, 

 1ST. J. Turney and J. D. Lang, of the Board of Indian Com mis- 



