1882 Board of Indian Commissioners
U.S. House. 47th Congress, 2d Session. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for the Year 1882 (H.Ex.Doc.77). Washington: Government Printing Office, 1883. (Serial Set 2110)

From: Report of E. Whittlesey on the Indian Territory, pp. 26-30.

. . . The same evening we drove to the Nez Perces Agency; 12 miles north, and met Arch[ie] [L]awyer, the Presbyterian preacher; James Reuben, the teacher, and Kus-es-kiet (Bald-head), one of the chiefs. The latter was the first of Joseph’s band to throw off the blanket. He said his past life was bad, but he had learned the better way. He had worked and raised a crop, and saw that Indians could live like white men. But the Nez Perces are not happy in the Indian Territory. They suffer much from the unhealthy climate. Many have died, and some are now sick. They complained of their physician as ignorant and inefficient. They long to get back to their mountain home. I reported their condition and wishes to the Senate committee, and Senator Dawes offered an amendment to the Indian appropriation bill providing for their return, but it was defeated. Therefore, they must remain another year and be supported by the government, while in Idaho they would be kindly received by their people and support themselves.

December 1, after looking at the saw-mill, storehouse, and stable, we visited the school taught by James Reuben. He has 38 names on his roll, and 33 were present, well recited, and the work on the blackboard was quick and accurate. The children are bright, and have made rapid progress. Two years ago they could not speak a word of English; now they read and speak and sing well. The school-house, built in part by the employés, is a plain frame building, 36 by 24 feet, unceiled, and cold. There are 70 children on the reservation, and more would attend school but for sickness and want of clothing, the annuity goods not having been received. . . .

From: Report of Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, Missions Among the Indians, pp. 49.

. . . In the Seneca schools, which are connected with the common-school system of the State of New York, complaint is made that teachers are sometimes appointed through the influence of politicians—a danger to which State schools are too often liable. In no mission have better results been gained than in the men’s and women’s schools for the Nez Percés at Kamiah—as witness the ordained minister and licentiate preachers, all of whom were educated largely by Miss S. L. McBeth, to that they passed satisfactory examinations in the presbytery, and are now men of useful promise, not merely in their own tribe, but likely to carry the Gospel to other tribes. The women under Miss K. C. McBeth’s instructions are likely to be fully equal if not superior to the men in their own sphere. . . .