CAMP DOUGLAS, UTAH Territory,

October 16, 1866.

Having completed the duties contemplated by special orders from headquarters department of the Platte, directing me to inspect the mountain district and report upon that and other points, I now furnish the following as my final report, which will close my duties as acting inspector general of the department:

COUNTRY.

After leaving Omaha the soil of the Platte valley is highly productive for nearly two hundred miles, yielding abundantly with the ordinary methods of American farming. At about that point, or near old Fort Kearney, the soil becomes thin and weak and the atmosphere dry, and continues so all the way to the dividing ridge of the Rocky mountains, and west of them in Montana, Idaho, and Utah, so far as I have seen.

Of this entire country one half may be considered of no value, the other half, for pastoral purposes, of about one-tenth the value of good grazing land in the northern States. Of this last half, on an average of about one acre in one thousand, can be made abundantly productive by irrigation and in no other way. These last points are found near springs under the mountains, or the immediate borders of most of the streams, and in the valleys of Sun, Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers. Each of these streams have fine rich valleys of from one to five miles in breadth, and from fifty to one hundred miles in length, all of which can be irrigated and cultivated. In the Great Salt Lake basin, along the base of the Wasatch mountains, and in the narrow valleys of the western slope of these mountains is good cultivable land, with abundant springs for irrigation. This section is about five hundred and fifty miles in length; and if all the good land could be placed in one piece, it would have a breadth for the entire length of not more than ten miles. These lands are nearly all occupied by the Mormons, making a population of about one hundred thousand.

Three-fourths of all the country passed over is made up of mountain ranges. Wild grasses of various qualities grow thinly over nearly all of it. Scattering cottonwood trees, occasionally thickening into grasses, border the streams, and on the sides of some of the mountains pine timber grows of a good quality.

Whatever mineral wealth the country may have can only be known when it is developed. It has large amounts of coal and some iron. Its precious metals, as at present produced, are damaging to the country at large, as they draw here ten times as much capital and labor as finds profitable employment.

The country has little value, and can never be sold by government at more than nominal rates. It will in time be settled by a scanty pastoral population. No amount of railroads, schemes of colonization, or government encouragement can ever make more of it.

ROADS.

The roads in all these Territories consist principally of a few main lines traversing the entire belt from the Missouri river to the Pacific, and one from Benton south through Montana, Utah, and the Mormon settlements towards the Colorado. These are all excellent natural roads, except the one from Benton south, where chartered companies have expended large sums in improving them and building bridges, exacting tolls for their use. Although they have been a great public benefit, their rates are excessive. There are toll ferries over the Big Horn and Yellowstone, but government teams and horses are not charged.

I have, respectfully, to recommend the establishment of a wagon road from some point on the Missouri river near the mouth of the Muscle Shell, to the Powder River road, near Fort C. F. Smith, with a branch keeping up the north side of the Yellowstone to the point where a new post should be established

next year. The routes indicated on the map enclosed are practicable, but should be passed over by the officer in charge of the work before selecting the best. I bad not time to make these selections, only ascertaining positively the practicability of the route. My own route did not extend to the mouth of the Muscle Shell by some forty miles, and I have been informed by intelligent citizens that, on account of the bad lands, it would be much better to start from a point some thirty or forty miles above the mouth of that stream. All this should be left to the discretion of the officer having the work in charge, after seeing all the routes. It will require a ferry to cross the Yellowstone. It is about 500 feet wide, and swift enough to carry the boat across by the current. A detachment will be necessary at the crossing. The river is bordered with the finest growth of cottonwood I ever saw. The boat could be built on the spot by sheathing the bottom, to be made of hewn slabs, with paulin, and putting in a strong false bottom. The tackling, cable, &c., should be sent up from below.

Opening this road up to the Yellowstone towards Gallatin would be of great value to the people of Montana. Gallatin would then be reached within 250 miles from safe and certain navigation on the Missouri, as near as from Fort Benton, and without the dangers of the rapids.

I have strongly to recommend the opening of these roads by troops. The immense appropriations of money by Congress for these western roads show no fruits. It is all dissipated in salaries and pay of men who travel across the country, but never stop to do any labor.

I have yet to see the first indication of any work expended on roads by any of the numerous parties sent out by Congress with large appropriations of money to build wagon roads.

I have to recommend Lieutenant and Quartermaster W. H. Keeling, thirteenth infantry, now at Camp Cook, as a proper person to locate and execute this work. Its proper accomplishment will depend very much upon who is detailed to carry it out. If he could receive his instructions so as to move with the early spring with two companies, everything could be made ready for receiving and forwarding the next year's supplies to the upper posts. The distance from Fort C. F. Smith to the Missouri is about 150 miles. The road need not be longer. Parties of responsibility have assured me that freights need not cost more than six centsper pound from St. Louis to this point, (Muscle Shell.)

There is a deception practiced upon the people going overland to Montana that should be made public. The parties interested in the Powder River road have published and erected a guide-board where this road branches from the old South Pass road, that it is but 425 miles from that point to Virginia City by their route, when, in fact, it is miles measured by the odometer. Every one interested in this country systematically deceives everybody else with regard to it.

For the use of the officer detailed for this work I enclose a copy of my diary, marked A, from the time I left Fort C. F. Smith till I left the Muscle Shell.

POSTS AND DISTRIBUTION OF TROOPS.

The posts now established in the mountain district are correctly located, and with another near the Big Bend of the Yellowstone, the route will have all the posts it will be advantageous to establish. In addition to this, the commanding officer of the district should be directed to establish block-houses, to be temporarily held, on one of the forks of the Cheyenne, on Crazy Woman, and on one of the forks of the Tongue river. The commanding officer should use his discretion as to all minor points of these locations. Two companies are sufficient for each of the four posts and the block-houses nearest it, and in case of active operations the posts could be reduced to thirty men without risk.

Cavalry could be best disposed at the post nearest Gallatin ou account of for

age, which can be obtained there in abundance and at moderate cost The animals might, in fact, be subsisted at the valley at times of inactivity; but I would not recommend the permanent posting of any troops at Gallatin or west of there. At Sun river I would recommend the establishment of a post of two companies. It is a good point for cavalry. The road from the mines to Benton is a very important one. The Indians leave that section in the summer and go north, but in the winter they are in the habit of coming down, killing and burning every thing. If cavalry is to come here for service, I would recommend the purchas ing of half-breed horses, as they can subsist without forage on the native grasses of the country. The American horses are of no service without grain. I tried them from C. F. Smith to Benton, as I have frequently done previously. They set out thin and weak, and after three or four days are of no use. Abundance of half-breed horses can be bought in Virginia City and Salt Lake city, by contracting early, at about $70. The Mormon church has now nearly a thousand on one of the islands in Salt lake, that Major Grimes, quartermaster of this post, informs me can be bought. The difference in usefulness in favor of the half-breed horse is worthy of earnest attention. If these horses are furnished the cavalry, either Fort Phil. Kearney or C. F. Smith would be good cavalry posts, but not otherwise.

As to the troops on the Upper Missouri, I am of the opinion that the posts should all be broken up. They are now very remote, and supplied at great expense. They are not situated near the line of any road, nor at the beginning or terminus of any now built, or likely to be in the future, if we except Fort Sully. They give little or no protection to the navigation of the river, and can never become nuclei of colonization from the utter poverty of the country.

The post at the mouth of the Judith is at a point where neither white nor red men ever go, and its location'is the subject of ridicule with every man I have met in the Territories.

Enough of the material could be floated down on rafts in the spring to estab lish warehouses and quarters for two companies near the Muscle Shell. Then if a detachment of two companies were sent up the river in the spring, with early navigation, to return with the latest, I would consider the river much more advantageously occupied that at present. This would release a large force of troops for active purposes.

I am confident our troops are too inactive. They should be so disposed as to give the greatest amount of vigorous field service. I wonld place no troops in the mining regions, as miners are better Indian fighters than soldiers, are numerous, and always armed and organized for defence.

SUPPLIES.

The route for supplying the new post now established has been already dis

cussed.

There are always large trains in the upper country, particularly in Gallatin valley, that could be advantageously employed to take supplies from the Upper Missouri to their destination. The navigation of the Yellowstone for supplying is worthy of further and full attention.

Flour of a good quality can be bought in Gallatin valley for nine cents per pound, and beef for eighty dollars per pair for oxen that a few months' grazing would make excellent beef. Good flour here can be had for seven cents. Hay in abundance can be cut at all points I have visited, except Reno. Small grain is too high to furnish in large quantities for animals, except in cases of emergency; at Benton I paid twenty cents for corn, at Helena fifteen cents, aud at Virginia City twelve and a half cents for barley, and they cannot be expected cheaper in years to come.

This point probably furnishes grain at lower rates than any on this side of the Missouri. Oats at seventy-nine cents per bushel. The stories of fine grasses

where animals can winter and keep fat along the mountains are false; for laboring animals in herds they do well in summer, but must be provided for in winter ; my own animals, and all I saw in trains, commenced falling away as soon as they left the Platte valley.

INDIANS.

The ideal Indian of the popular mind is found only in poetry and Cooper's novels. The Indian who now inhabits the plains is a dirty beggar and thief, who murders the weak and unprotected, but never attacks an armed foe. He keeps no promises, and makes them only the more easy to carry on his murder and pillage. He knows no sentiment but revenge and fear, and cares only to live in his vagrancy. All efforts to better his condition have and will but add to his debt of ingratitude, and prove unproductive of any good. The fact that one in a thousand have been civilized proves nothing, neither does it that our people can sometimes become so low and deceitful and murderous as the Indian. The white mau owes the Indian nothing. He is in the way of the evolutions of progress, and when government pays what is to him a reasonable compensation for his title to the territory, or for privileges in it, the debt is as perfectly cancelled as when a corporation pays the assessed value of the site of a public school. The Indian department has pampered these rascals, armed them, equipped them, and yielded to their demands, till many of them neither fear the government nor believe it has the ability to defend itself.

The Indians of the mountain district are of this class; they have murdered during the season about forty people, besides stealing a large amount of property. I have but one recommendation to make for all Indians: Allot to each tribe, arbitrarily, its territory or reservation, and make vigorous, unceasing war on all that do not obey and remain upon their grounds. When once thoroughly whipped there will afterwards be no trouble with them. Prohibit all sales or issues of arms and ammunition, and imprison all known to violate the law. If necessary, give them food and clothing, but no implements of war.

It will be said that this is impracticable. It is not so. With the troops that can be spared from active service, which, in my opinion, should be three fourths of all in the department, the haunts of all the Indians can be visited each season, dealing war in their own fashion on all villages found off the reservations. Our troops are too inert; they should be more actively employed, and all the friendly Indians possible for this service. This can certainly be carried out, if adopted, and put in the hands of determined men, who will try honestly to do their duty. Expeditions should take no lumbering wagon trains nor artillery, but move with pack mules, say one for each four men, to carry blankets and food for infantry, and only food for cavalry. If cavalry is used, only the half-breed horses should be taken, for although American horses can be used for cavalry without grain on the native grasses, yet after four or five days, if previously weak, as I have always found them, they are not as effective and cannot march so far as infantry that only carry their arıns. These expeditions should be at all times ready to make forced marches, and not be held back by jaded horses. Such expeditions can, with due tact and energy, nearly always surprise and destroy the villages. I speak from personal experience, having in Texas, in 1858 and 1859, on five successive occasions succeeded by this means in surprising Comanches and Apaches. We invariably first found the Indian and attacked him before he knew of our presence. It will be of no use to send these expeditions under men who are not willing to carry them out under circumstances the most discouraging and laborious, without tents, with a single blanket, and often on insufficient food, and who will fight on every occasion and attack at the instant.

I am confident that this course in a few years would, if adopted as the general Indian policy, solve the Indian troubles, and we would only have him on our

hands as a peaceable pauper, in place of a thieving, murdering one, and at half the cost. The present system is but play with crime. The Indians who stole the first lot of mules from Reno, when pressed, left behind a mule packed with the goods just received from the treaty commissioners at Laramie.

In 1859 I had the misfortune to be seriously wounded by Indians, and among our captures were two Lancaster rifles, not long before issued by the Indian bureau.

I report only from personal knowledge and close study of the Indian through several years of service with and against him. It is time that murder of innocent people for a false sentiment should cease.

QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT.

This department I sometimes found in very inefficient hands and badly administered. The piles of coin costing half a million of dollars and rotting down at Julesburg has already been reported.

I saw too little of Colonel Dandy's performance of duty to form any opinion of the manner in which it is executed.

At Reno I found the property utterly uncared for, and the quartermaster, Mr. Link, very loth to take charge of it, as he had not receipted for it and did not

want to.

The affairs of Captain Brown, at Fort Phil. Kearney, I found but little better. These things have all been previously reported. At Camp F. Smith and Camp Cook I found officers of this department of special ability and activity. Also at this place I find Brevet Major Grimes, whose administration, without any formal inspection, impressed me very favorably.

I found, as a general thing, the department was paying for transportation for more miles than the actual measured distance from Sedgwick to Laramie, about eight miles, and between other points in proportion. This, on the immense freights sent over these roads each year, amounts to a very large sum, and many thousand dollars would be saved by sending officers over them with men to straighten them in many places and accurately measure them.

I find that at Benton the average cost of freights received there this season has been ten cents per pound, while those at Camp Cook, one hundred miles below, have cost the government, on an average, eighteen cents per pound. This, perhaps, is accounted for in part by detentions, but it does not appear to sufficiently account for this difference, which, upon the immense freights sent up with the 13th infantry, is a very large sum.

I find numbers of guides and mail-carriers employed at the different posts; at the headquarters of the mountain district five, at rates from $150 to $300 per month. The mail-carriers I found going over the roads escorted by twenty men, and sometimes furnished with ambulances.

The guides I found to be old mountaineers, who were supposed to know something of the country. Their knowledge is meagre and indefinite, their ideas of distance totally at fault, and, with the present maps of the country, any intelligent officer is much better off without them than with them.

If government looks on these men as pensioners it misplaces its bounty, as nearly all the money paid them is spent in profligacy. I have to recommend the discharge of all these men, except one interpreter at each post, who can also act as guide.

The mail should be sent over the main travelled roads under a safe escort; it but encourages the Indians to send it skulking along through the ravines by night. I found the mechanic shops, (if so they can be called,) at all the posts but this, worked by enlisted men, badly organized, and with a very inferior order of skill; one heard nothing but coarse oaths, and could procure no repairs, but some damage would be inflicted more fatal than the one remedied, while the waste of material was everywhere profligate. I find here that the work is done