TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1846-1859
188
scarcity of timber ·and good water render it unfit for farming purposes. This character obtains for about one hundred and twenty miles from the sources of the river, below which several points were observed where good locations might have been made, but all the arable lands that are met with in this section where there is timber and good water have been disposed of by the State and are not now vacant. In order to create a good understanding with the different tribes of Indians who are to occupy these lands, and to avoid giving them any excuse for not availing themselveil of the pro- visions of the Act of the Texas Legislature, and the wishes of the Authorities of the General Government, we have deemed it important before making the locations to consult as much as practicable their views and wishes in regard to the matter, be- lieving that otherwise it would be very difficult to confine them within the narrow limits designated by the Act referred to. We have accordingly counciled with the Chiefs of the Ioni, Anadarko, Caddo and Waco living upon the Brazos below Fort Belknap who are perfectly willing and indeed anxious to have a permanent location anywhere upon the river below the Fort, but are opposed to going further out as they have no protection from the northern Comanche and Kiowa who are much more numerous than themselves, and do not even allow them to hunt north of the Brazos River, and who would probably take from them their animals and crops in the event of their being established in the section of country which they (the northern Indians) claim as their own hunting grounds. Whereas if they are settled below the Fort, they say they will have the troops between themselves and the dreaded northern indians. In view of these considerations, and as we have found a va- cant tract of land suited to their wishes upon the Brazos below Fort Belknap, we have selected four leagues at this point for the use of the indians mentioned. They have promised, and indeed are already making preparations to go upon the tract and erect their winter habitations, and as their wishes have been fully consulted in the matter (their chiefs being present when the locations were made) it will be for their interest to do every thing in their power to check the depredating visits of the northern indians upon the frontier in this section of Texas, and they may thus become useful auxiliaries to the U. S. troops. We have also conferred with Sanaco, Katumpsa, and other
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