in Washington, to which he replied that there would be some advantages, but that some serious objections occurred to him which he would explain fully by letter. The objections contained in his letter were that the delegation went to Washington by authority, with a view of making some permanent arrangement for their future, and that it might be charged the Government had taken advantage of them; that it would be known. to all other Indians in the Southwest, and, in future, they might hesitate about sending delegations to Washington, and that it would necessitate a war of extermination against the hostiles then in Old Mexico, in which all would have to be killed. To me the objections of General Miles did not seem sufficiently weighty in the face of the many cogent reasons existing for removal-if removed at all-to some point east of the Missouri River, and I am pleased to say that the President finally authorized them to be sent to Fort Marion, after General Miles, on August 20, had reported that Colonel Wade, commanding Fort Apache, was prepared to accomplish the work.

On the 25th of August I again informed General Miles, in answer to a telegram he had sent to the Interior Department, that no proposition. looking to the location of the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Indians west of the Missouri River could be entertained, to which he replied with further recommendations as to establishing them at Fort Union, New Mexico. This was forwarded to the President, who adhered, however, to the decision he had already made, and in consequence the four hundred and forty men, women, and children then at Fort Apache were started for Fort Marion, Florida, where they arrived on September 21.

THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S REPORT

shows the distribution of troops, statement of casualties during the year, enlistments and re-enlistments, number of enlisted men drawing increased pay under the act of August 4, 1854, and the number of men who will become entitled to increased pay under the act of May 15, 1872.

It is gratifying to know that there is a marked decrease in the number of desertions from the Army since my last report. The percentage in 1884 to the legal strength of the Army was 15, in 1885 11.7, and during the past year 8.3. The great decrease since 1884 is due, no doubt, to the improvement of administration and to the beneficent legislation which provides for honorable retirement of enlisted men after long and faithful service. From the fact that a considerable number of offenders belong to a class that may be termed professionals, the evil can only be wholly eradicated by legislation which will empower us to indelibly mark with India ink every man convicted of desertion by a court-martial. Fear of detection would prevent such criminals from again offering themselves for enlistment, and would, in my opinion, terminate forever the repeated desertions that are frequently practiced by vicious and bad characters who appear lost to all sense of obligation, and commit the crime for pleasure or the convenience of getting from one place to another.

The recruiting of the Army has been carried on under practically the same system as has obtained for many years, except that the recruits are kept at the general depots for a longer period than formerly. This has proven advantageous to the recruits and the Government in many ways, and the improved quarters and better rations and clothing that are now provided for the enlisted soldier tend greatly to improve and elevate the tone of the service.

THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S REPORT

indicates that the Army is in a very healthy and gratifying condition, and it contains many recommendations deserving consideration. The discipline is generally excellent. But few officers have been tried by courts-martial during the year, and I think I may safely state there has not been a period during the last twenty-five years when so little necessity has existed for the correction of those holding commissions.

Many officers are becoming disabled, however, by reason of long service on the frontier and from wounds received or disease contracted during the war of the rebellion. While the disabled are being transferred to the retired list as fast as its limits will permit, some relief could be extended if Congress would open that list to the extent of embracing those who are now excluded from it for want of vacancies. This would give a certain degree of promotion, and if we could get the infantry regiments increased to twelve companies, as proposed by the Manderson bill, and the increase of five thousand men reported favorably by the Senate Military Committee last winter, a state of efficiency and usefulness would be reached which would enable us to creditably perform such service as the country might demand.

MILITARY ACADEMY-ARTILLERY AND INFANTRY AND CAVALRY

SCHOOLS.

The reports of the Superintendent of the Military Academy, the commanding officer of the Artillery School, and the commanding officer of the Infantry and Cavalry School, show the constant care that is being exercised for the maintenance of a high standard of military education among our officers. The Military Academy and the Artillery School have been in existence for so long a period, and the general principles on which they are based have proven so satisfactory, that there are no marked recommendations made in the report from either which I wish to bring before you now, though many minor points are touched upon which deserve consideration. The commandant of the Infantry and Cavalry School suggests a number of improvements to keep up with the spirit of the age, but, as that establishment is yet in its infancy, it is thought best to move slowly in the adoption of untried methods there until the institution becomes somewhat more crystallized.

RIFLE PRACTICE.

The instruction of the Army in the use of the rifle or carbine with which the men are armed has been thoroughly prosecuted during the year, and the returns from each department, as well as the results of the regular competitions now just closing, exhibit a decided advance in the proficiency of the Army in rifle firing.

In my previous report I called attention to the great relative impor tance of the company skirmish practice, where the targets are figures simulating the appearance of a line of hostile skirmishers. This practice is the natural sequence to the known distance-firing, and possesses great practical advantages; it not only perfects the fire-discipline of the company and the ability of its officers to control in direction and intensity the fire of their men under conditions as close as peace permits.to those which might exist in war, but it also presents to the eye of the soldier an object which bears a fair resemblance to the appearance of an enemy in battle, and accustoms him as far as possible to aiming and

firing at men. The lack of appropriate ground for these exercises has in some cases prevented their proper prosecution, but as their importance is becoming better recognized these obstacles are gradually being overcome, until, in the near future, I anticipate that many of the soldiers will become expert skirmishers, and the effective fire of the mass of the Army will have greatly increased in value.

LANDS IN SEVERALTY TO INDIANS.

As the Army is necessarily deeply interested in the settlement of the Indians in permanent abodes, I again beg leave to submit my recommendations of last year on this subject.

In my annual report for 1885 I recommended that each Indian family be given and located upon the 320 acres now provided for them by la v in case of actual settlement; that the Government then condemn ne remainder of each reservation and buy it for $1.25 per acre, and with the proceeds purchase Government bonds, to be held in trust by the Interior Department, giving to the Indians each year the interest on the bonds for their support. I cited, in illustration of what would be the practical workings of this suggestion, the case of the Crows, the Cheyennes, the Arapahoes, and the Utes, but the limits of my report did not permit a full elucidation of the advantages that would accrue to the Indian, nor even an allusion to the large amount of land now lying idle that would thereby be opened to settlement, and increase by so much the material prosperity of the nation.

When it is attempted to deal with this subject more in detail, a difi. culty is at once encountered, in that neither the actual area of the various reservations has been accurately determined nor the numbers of the Indians occupying them known within more than approximate limits. It will, therefore, not be possible to show the exact workings of the method proposed, but only a general summary covering the cases of the larger reservations in each Territory, and the most populous of the different tribes.

Since the appropriations for the support of the Indians are not in every case made specifically for those upon any particular reservation, but rather collectively for those inhabiting some State or Territory, in making comparisons with the sum now required for the subsistence of the Indians and the annuities allowed them by treaty, the aggregate for a Territory, or several Territories, has necessarily been considered rather than for each tribe or reservation.

In Dakota the principal reservations are the Fort Berthold and those inhabited by the various bands of Sioux. The Fort Berthold Reservation, with an area of over 2,900,000 acres, has a population of 1,300 people; the others-the Crow Creek, Old Winnebago, and Sioux-an area of nearly 22,250,000 acres, and a population of about 25,800. Carrying out the proposals of my report would, in the former case, afford an annual income of over $140,000, and in the latter case a surplus unoccupied by the Indians of over 20,500,000 acres (over 32,000 square miles), or an extent of territory equal to the combined area of the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, the proceeds of which at 4 per cent. per annum would yield an interest of over $1,000,000. With two of the smaller reservations-the Devil's Lake and South Mountain, area 276,480 acres, population over 1,800-nearly half of the land would be required by the Indians; in this case, then, the income from the surplus would be small, being a little less than $8,000 per annum.

In Montana the Blackfeet Reservation contains over 21,500,000 acres, and a population of less than 7,000 Indians; the surplus land, equal to the area of the State of Maine, would then return an income of $1,060,000. The Crow Reservation mentioned in my report could, in a similar manner, be made to produce an annual sum of $223,000.

Considering all the Indians and reservations in the Territories of Dakota and Montana, we have an aggregate area of over 54,500,000 acres, and a population of less than 45,000. The surplus area of nearly 81,000 square miles (almost equal to the entire State of Kansas) would produce an annual interest of over $2,500,000. The appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, for fulfilling treaties with these tribes and for their subsistence and civilization and the pay of the employés incident to such undertaking, amount to about $100,000 less than this sum.

In Wyoming the Shoshones are located upon the Wind River Reservation. One hundred and seventeen thousand dollars per year could be derived from their surplus land.

In Idaho the Fort Hall Reservation, occupied by the Bannocks and Shoshones, would in the same way produce each year $55,000; the Cœur d'Alene Réservation, $28,000. In the two Territories of Wyoming and Idaho the total area of all the reservations is nearly 5,000,000 acres ; the total population nearly 6,000. An area of nearly 7,200 square miles, almost equal to the State of New Jersey, would not be required for the Indians, and an income would be yielded of about $235,000-a sum more than $100,000 in excess of the appropriation for the last fiscal year.

In Oregon the most populous reservation is the Klamath, with over 1,000,000 acres, but less than 1,000 inhabitants. It would yield nearly $50,000 a year.

In Washington Territory the Yakamas, about 3,200 in number, occupy the reservation of 800,000 acres of the same name. Here the surplus land would bear but $30,000 a year. In Oregon and in this Territory the reservations, with a total population of about 16,000, embrace 8,400,000 acres, or about seven and one-third million acres more thar would be required by them under the plan proposed, which wou. c pro duce per annum 8370,000, or about $300,000 more than was appropri ated last year for these Indians.

The different bands of Utes in Utah and Colorado number about 3,650, and their reservations include over 5,000,000 acres, of which the surplus portion would produce a yearly income of $240,000, or about $175,000 more than was disbursed last year for their benefit.

In New Mexico the Navajoes, on the reservation of the same name, have now over 8,000,000 acres for a population of 23,000 people. Here the surplus land would yield over $330,000 a year.

For the surplus lands of the Mescalero Apache Reservation the in come would be nearly $20,000.

In Arizona the principal reservation is the White Mountain, with the agency at San Carlos. It embraces more than two and one-half million acres. Considerable uncertainty exists as to its population, but it is probably about 3,000 in the vicinity of the agency, and 2,000 moremaking 5,000 in all who are now engaged in farming and in efforts to make themselves self-supporting. The latter would, however, be entitled to all the benefits obtained by the agency Indians in any scheme looking to the promotion of their general prosperity. Carrying out the proposals of my report would leave a balance of considerably over 2,000,000 acres, with, according to the pian advocated, about $110,000 per year.

Considering collectively the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, we have reservations embracing sixteen and one-half million acres, inhabited by nearly 53,000 people. The surplus land would include about thirteen and three-fourths millions of acres, about equal to half the State of Kentucky, which would yield, according to the plan proposed, nearly $640,000-a sum greater by $350,000 than that appropriated for the last fiscal year for the support of these Indians.

In the Indian Territory the Cheyenne and Arapahoe, the Kiowa and Comanche, and the Wachita Reservations embrace over 8,000,000 acres. The population is about 7,750. The income from the surplus land ($375,000) would come within $75,000 of equaling the amount appropriated. Considering all the Indians in this Territory, we have a total of nearly 80,000, an extent of reservation of thirty-one and one-half millions of acres, excluding the Oklahoma country, which would produce an annual income of about one and one-third million dollars.

The Indian reservations of the United States contain about 200,000 square miles, and their population is about 260,000. Twenty-six thousand square miles would locate each family upon a half section of land, leaving a surplus of about 170,000 square miles, which, according to the plan I have proposed, would produce annually $4,480,000. This amount exceeds by about $660,000 the entire sum appropriated for the payment of their annuities and for their subsistence and civilization.

The policy advocated in my report would be most advantageously applied gradually, the general government of the Indians being continued according to the methods now in vogue, or such improvement of them as time and experience may suggest. The ultimate development of the suggested policy would, as the Indians advance in civilization and intelligence, result in the return to them of the principal derived from the sale of their lands, which, until such measures were authorized by act of Congress, would be held as a trust for their benefit, and the income applied to their support.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant-General, Commanding.

Hon. WILLIAM C. ENDICOTT,

Secretary of War.

REPORT OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, October 9, 1886.

Lieutenant-General PHILIP H. SHERIDAN,

U. S. Army:

GENERAL: Pursuant to your instructions, I have the honor to sub mit the annual returns of the Army:

A.-Organization of the Regular Army.

B.-Return showing actual strength of the Regular Army.

C.-Distribution of troops in the Division of the Atlantic.

D.-Distribution of troops in the Departments of the Missouri, Texas,

the Platte, and Dakota-Division of the Missouri.

E. Distribution of troops in the Departments of California, the Columbia, and Arizona-Division of the Pacific.