Peoria Indian Reservation, 1890

The Peoria reservation is situated 4 miles north of the agency. It consists of a strip of land extending from the Missouri state line west to the Neosho River, and is bounded on the north by the Quapaw reservation and on the south by the Shawnee and Ottawa reservations, and contains in all 50,301 acres. Allotments have been made to the Peorias which gave them 200 acres each. The land is prairie, high and rolling, good for agriculture, more especially that part lying west of Spring River, and is well watered. Whites obtained and leased a large tract of land east of Spring River and on the border of the state of Missouri from the Indians and are sinking numerous shafts, some of which are producing lead and zinc in paying quantities. There are some prospect holes called the old Spanish mines, which Indian tradition says were worked more than 150 years ago by the Spaniards.

The Peorias number in all 160, 78 males and 82 females, of whom 140 speak and 85 read English. Most of them speak the Indian language, and always have an interpreter at council with the whites.

The older Peorias have Labatt features, with quite dark complexions, and if dressed like the wild Indians would resemble them in appearance. The women make a better appearance, are lighter colored, and more industrious than the men. The children are making rapid progress in education. They are healthy in appearance and increasing in number.

These Indians have good farms, and some are well cultivated. Many have white men the renters or tenants, and some are whites who have married Indian women. They have good improvements and cultivate well. Since they have taken lands by allotment rapid progress has been made. The United States Indian agent reports to the Indian Office that 300 acres additional were broken last year, and 21,000 rods of fence built, most of which was done for fields under pasture for cattle belonging to the whites. This gives them an additional revenue. They are also increasing in the ownership of horses, mules, cattle, and swine. Their houses are good, with few exceptions, and are mostly frame and well built. On the whole, these Indians have the best houses of any belonging to the agency. A number have been built in the last year, with outbuildings. The women are capable housekeepers, industrious, dress well, and are cleanly in appearance.

There is a day school on the reservation, which is quite well attended. A number of the children are sent to the boarding and industrial schools.

This tribe has no church building, the schoolhouse being used for divine worship. The Society of Friends and the Methodists hold service once each month.

There are but few of the Peorias who are communicants of a church. The members of this tribe are now less inclined to the Christian worship than they were several years ago.

The traditions of the tribe have been lost; still sonic of the older men hold their Indian councils, to which the younger generation is not admitted. A short time ago they abandoned, the hereditary chief and council, and now a chief is elected annually by a vote of the people. They have the best educated Indian in the tribe for chief.

Polygamy has been abandoned, and marriages are performed in accordance with the law and sacredly kept. It is said that no member of this tribe has been accused of any crime of importance for many years. They are peaceable and law-abiding, and have abandoned the dances and other outward Indian customs, though some for amusement attend the dances of other tribes and take part. They are farmers and stock raisers.

Miami Indians.-The Miami reservation lies northwest from the agency, and is embraced within the area of the Peoria reservation. It is mostly prairie, fine agricultural and grass land.

The Miamis have good farms, some quite large. They have their lands by allotment.

Some of the fencing was done by the whites for grazing purposes.

These Indians receive an annuity, which they use for improving their farms and stock; in fact, they are prosperous people, contented and happy.

Some indications of coal are found on the north half of this reservation.

There are but 67 Indians in this tribe; 50 speak good English, and 43 read it. A few speak Indian in their families and seem loath to give up the language of their forefathers. They have a good appearance, light complexion, and show the mixture of the whites to a great extent. There are none but what have white blood in them. Many of the females are quite pretty, dress well, are neat, good housekeepers, and intelligent and industrious. Their houses are all quite good, a few being log; the most of them, however, are frame, and some few have large and elegant frame houses, with the floors carpeted and furniture in keeping. They have a healthy appearance, but there are few old people among them. It would seem they are now on the increase, as there have been 5 births and 1 death in the last year; but if we take the record for the last 10 years it shows a decrease.
They are farmers and stock raisers. A few of the young men have learned trades at the industrial schools, and 3 or 4 work at carpentering and are quite industrious. They built 4 houses last year for their people on the reservation.

The Miamis have a day school on their reservation. The attendance is small, but the school is well conducted. They propose building a larger schoolhouse, which will be more centrally located. Sonic of their children have been to the different boarding and industrial schools and have fair educations.
There is no church on the reservation. A few belong to the Society of Friends, and hold services in the schoolhouse. The most of them are Catholics, and are visited frequently by a priest, who holds service in their houses.

These Indians have entirely dropped all the traditions of their ancestors; if any of the old ones have retained them they refuse to divulge theta to the younger generation or to the whites. They still have chiefs, not hereditary, but elected by the people each year. Polygamy has been abandoned, and all the marriages are performed by the ministers or priests, and strictly kept. Divorces are unknown.

These people are law-abiding, and there are no crimes, except perhaps a few of a minor character, which are quickly settled by the agent, who adjusts all differences among them. They have no dances. The making of trinkets, beadwork, and bows and arrows has been entirely abandoned. With the women needlework of a more useful kind has taken the place of trinket making, while the men take to the plow and reaper, which gives them more wealth in return fir their labor. In the allotment of lands to these Indians each received 200 acres.

Condition of the Indian by State, 1890

Notes About the Book:

Source:  Report on Indians Taxed and Indians not Taxed in the United States, Except Alaska at the Eleventh Census: 1890, Department of the Interior, Government Printing Office, Washington DC., 1894

A Report to the Secretary of War of the United States on Indian Affairs, by Rev. Jedidiah Morse, 1822, Printed by S. Converse

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output. Several spellings have been used for the same tribe of Indians.

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