order an additional survey with a view of adopting and thus taking advantage of a measure devised, proposed, and partly executed by the party, who may justly claim to be the originator of the plan to furnish water on this desert. As it is a settled principle of the gov ernment to secure and protect the person who may discover an improvement, in the right of that improvement I would submit that the principle applies here, as well as in cases which are patentable.

And, further, I would submit, that inasmuch as all the testimony confirm the facts established by those surveys, that the entire section called for by the State is not only valueless but a serious barrier to government service, it is evident that the government can sustain no loss, but, on the contrary, save money and facilitate government service.

And, finally, I would submit that inasmuch as the evidence establishes the fact that owing to the absence of water and vegetation on this sahara there has been, not only great suffering, but loss of human life, and a great loss of animals and other property, and withal compelling our government to make an unauthorized encroachment on the soil of a government inimical to us for the transit and transporta tion of mails, munitions, men, and supplies, in order to reach our Pacific possessions, I would respectfully submit if there is not a necessity of prompt action in furtherance of the plan proposed.

Very respectfully submitted.

O. M. WOZEN CRAFT, Agent for the State of California.

SAN BERNARDINO, November 1, 1860.

SIR In compliance with your instructions, I have made a reconnoissance and survey of the Colorado desert, with a view of determining the practicability and probable expense of introducing water on the said desert, from the Colorado river, and the area of lands which may be thus irrigated."

The reconnoissance and survey embraced that portion of the desert lying south of the range of mountains, extending from the San Bernardino mountains to the Colorado river. I deemed it unnecessary to go north of that range of mountains, having spent some time in surveying that region of country, and thus gained a familiar knowledge of its topography and physical geography; from which I am persuaded that water cannot be taken from the river over any considerable portion of it, or to the basin below that range of mountains. And, moreover, having found a point which was so well adapted in fulfilment of the objects in view, that I deemed it all sufficient to limit the survey to the above-named region of country.

After having made a careful reconnoissance of the country, I was forcibly impressed with the practicability of taking water from the

Colorado river over a great portion of it, inasmuch as there is the unmistakable evidence of water having flown from the river through innumerable channels, and finally concentrating into two, of some magnitude, by which the water is conducted far up into the basin; water having passed through one of those channels (from the Colorado river) soon after our acquisition of the country, it was call New river, the other may justly be called Old river.

The practicability being thus settled by the laws of nature, I sought to determine on a suitable point to tap the river, and was fortunate in finding a location which possessed so many advantages that I was at no loss in making the selection. It is that point of rock adjacent to Pilot Knob, and immediately above our boundary line with Mexico. The secondary and recent alluvial formations of the banks of the Colorado will not admit of tapping the river without risk of changing its channel and destruction of the works necessary in regulating the volume of water to be taken out; hence the necessity of taking advantage of a point of primary and durable formation, and so situated as to insure a juncture with the river at all times.

This point possesses all of these requisites. There is a ledge of rock extending into the river some fifty-five feet, projecting out from an elevated point of rock, against which the river impinges, and in all probability will ever continue to do so. This point being determined on, it was made the base of survey, and I proceeded to run a line of level down and adjacent to our boundary line with Mexico. The result of which showed a mean fall, with an equitable gradient of five feet to the mile through the entire extent of country proposed to be irrigated.

There is an elevated plain jutting out from the river at the point of junction, which continues on in a southwesterly direction for some fifty miles. It would be desirable to carry the level on and over it, but inasmuch as there are heavy sand drifts on it, projecting out to the edge of this bench, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to carry water through it, consequently we will be compelled to take the water through Mexican territory for that distance.

The probable expense of the work. It would be difficult for me to make the estimate, and am in hopes that it may be sufficient to give the facts by which those who may engage in the work can make their estimates.

The ledge of rock, at the junction, is so formed by nature as to require but little additional work to make it complete for the introduction and regulation of the volume of water which may be desired.. Nature, again, has formed aqueducts from this point to the bed of Old river, but it will be necessary to cut one channel, and thus confine and husband the water. This canal should be, say, twenty-five feet in width and ten in depth, and fifty miles in length. This is through Mexican territory. We then can avail ourselves of the channel of Old river for thirty or forty miles through American delta, simply by deepening and straightening it, and finally extend it by smaller cuts some fifteen or twenty miles further, up to the extreme depression of the basin and base of the mountains.

H. Rep. Com. 87-3

After reaching the American soil, the lateral canals may be cut at such intervals as the requirements for irrigation may demand, and, of course, the expense will be in due ratio to the number required, and that can only be determined by actual experiment.

The area of land which may thus be irrigated may be set down at twenty miles in width, by forty in length. This estimate, however, must be taken with all due allowance, and in connexion with the obstacles in making the estimate. There is, in the first place, a portion of the lands within the boundary which may be irrigated, are irre claimable, owing to their formation and composition, such as sand drifts, elevations, swamp, volcanoes, alkalies, and salt beds, and, finally, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make an estimate of the volume of water which may be spared or safely taken from the Colorado river, or the area of lands which a given volume of water will irrigate; all of this cannot be correctly fixed a priori, and can only be determined by actual experiment.

I can only say that there is the above named amount of lands within the American boundary which will admit of irrigation from the Colorado river, and that those lands are unusually rich, being composed of alluvial earth, clay, sand, marl, and shells, and withal presenting a remarkably favorable surface for irrigation.

EBENEZER HADLEY, County Surveyor of Los Angelos County, and Deputy County Surveyor of San Bernardino County.

O. M. WOZENCRAFT.

SAC AND FOX INDIANS,

[To accompany bill H. R. No. 420.]

APRIL 24, 1862.--Ordered to be printed.

Mr. ALDRICH, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, made the

following REPORT.

The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the memorial of the Sac and Fox Indians in Kansas, asking indemnity for property destroyed there in 1854, 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858. 1859, and 1860, with the accompanying testimony, have considered the same and submit the following report:

That the Sac and Fox Indian reserve lies in the centre of the State of Kansas, about 35 miles southwest from Lawrence. On the opening of this Territory for settlement, the great rush of emigration was for a central location, and, as a consequence, a number of towns sprung up on the borders of the Sac and Fox lands. These towns are Council City, Centropolis, Burlingame, Versailles, Minneola, Superior, and a few others, depending largely for their building timber, lumber, and fuel, on the Sac and Fox lands; also, the prairie. farms surrounding this reserve, presenting a frontier line of over a hundred miles, are fenced mainly with rails taken from it, and the cabins and stables of the settlers are built of logs cut on the same. The testimony on this head is full and explicit, and the claim of $10,000 for damages done to timber is thought to be moderate. The claim is made by seven chiefs in behalf of the tribe, and their testimony, which is full and sufficient, is sustained by the testimony of the local Indian agent, Perry Fuller, and by the United States surveyor, John McCarthy. Agent Fuller testifies "that from his personal knowledge, the damage done to the timber of the Sac and Fox Indians has been ten thousand dollars; that since May, 1859, legal proceedings had been commenced against all persons who had before or have since been known to have committed depredations upon the Sac and Fox timber; that the courts have failed to sustain an action for stealing timber from an Indian reservation, therefore, the attempt to make the offenders pay the value of the timber removed and destroyed, either in whole or in part, proved a failure."

Mr. McCarthy testifies "that as a surveyor, and one of the con

tracting parties for the survey of the Sac and Fox reservation, he has recently been over most of it; that near the settlements of Minneola, Centropolis, Superior, Burlingame, and Florence, the destruction of timber has been immense; that roads leading from said settlements into the timber on said reservation have been much travelled, &c.; and that the stumps and tops of trees remaining, show that many trees valuable for rails and sawing purposes have been cut and removed. He is satisfied that this timber was taken by white persons, citizens, and that the value of the same is not less than ten thousand dollars."

Considering that this reserve is in the centre of Kansas, on the headwaters of the Osage river, and is well timbered with oak and black walnut, the most valuable kinds of timber for building and fencing, and that it is surrounded by white settlers who have no scruples about appropriating it to their own use, the committee feel justified in concluding, both by the testimony and the nature of the case, that the depredations were committed as alleged by the claimants, and that the claim is a just one, and that indemnity should be granted.

The claims for horses cover a period of seven years, commencing in 1854, and running through 1855, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, and 1860. The whole number of horses stolen is 274, being an average of 39 horses per year since the first settlement of the Territory. Of this number 269 were stolen by white persons, and five by Indians, amounting in value to the sum total of $20, 235, being an average of about $2,890 per year, for seven years, which ought to have been paid yearly.

These claims are introduced to the Indian department as follows:

'SIR: Enclosed I have the honor to send the evidence of the Sac and Fox Indians, in relation to their claims for depredations. Believing the statements of these Indians correct, and hoping you will use your influence in their behalf, I remain

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"Hon. A. B. GREENWOOD,

"PERRY FULLER, "United States Indian Agent.

"Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C."

On examining the evidence here alluded to, the committee find that all the testimony was taken at Agent Fuller's office, at the Sac and Fox agency, mainly by his clerk, J. M. Luce, but certified to by himself. He introduces Mr. Luce as follows:

"I hereby certify on honor, that Mr. J. M. Luce, who has taken the evidence of the Sac and Fox Indians, in relation to the loss of property by the depredations of white persons upon their reservation, as per abstract 'A' and statements numbered from 1 to 109 in