19 



District of Columbia, ss. 



I, John McKenney, a notary public in and for the district aforesaid, certify that 

 Louis Reshaw, whose signature is affixed to the within affidavit, came before me 

 and made oath that the matters stated in said paper are true to the best of his 

 knowledge and belief. 



"Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and notarial seal this 5th day of 

 June. 1875. 



J. McKENNEY, 



Notary Public. 



That no bales of blankets remained at the Agency after the 

 issue of Nov. 12, 1874, is shown by Mr. Richard's affidavit above 

 quoted, and by Agent Saville's Property Returns, now on file in 

 the Interior Department. This I also know from personal observa- 

 tion, as I was several times in the warehouse after the issue, and 

 saw that none were there. 



On subsequently examining the Property Returns of Agent 

 Saville for the 4th quarter, 1874, at Red Cloud Agency, which he 

 had rendered to the Indian Bureau, and were on file in the 

 Interior Department, I was surprised to find that he had certified 

 to the issue, on Nov. 12th, 1874, of no less than thirty-five bales 

 of blankets, and had furnished a paper purporting to be a receipt 

 of the Indian Chiefs for that number. In a recent communication 

 from the Indian Bureau, I learn that the true number of bales 

 shipped to Red Cloud Agency in 1874 was thirty-seven, or 1,850 

 pairs. Hence it would appear that the Indians at this Agency 

 received less than one-half the number of blankets for which the 

 the government paid. 



The blankets actually issued were bitterly complained of by the 

 Indians, for two reasons — the first being their small sizes, which 

 were not adapted to men as large as the Sioux braves, and were 

 only fitted for women and children. The second and most serious 

 objection, however, was the fact, that the brand U. S. I. D. on 

 each blanket had been put on with some material which rotted 

 or burned the cloth, and after a short wear this brand was 

 replaced by holes, as stated above in the affidavit of Mr. Richard. 

 This fact is now well known to every one at the Agency. These 

 blankets were furnished by J. & J. Dobson, of Philadelphia. 



