Condition of the Alabama Indians in 1890

Total Indian Population As Of June 1, 1890

Reservation Indians, not taxed (not counted in the general census):

Males…….149
Females….235
Total………384

Indians self-supporting, taxed (counted in the general census):

Males…….338
Females….421
Total………759
Grand Total 1,148

The civilized (self-supporting) Indians of Alabama, counted in the general census, number 759, 338 males and 421 females, and are distributed as follows:

Autauga County, 116
Escambia County, 173
Mobile County, 4023
other counties with 8 or less in each, 68.

The mode of life of these Indians is akin to that of their neighbors of small property. Among them are the descendants of Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Mobile Indians, more or less affected by white and Negro blood.

The reservation Indians not taxed are a band known as Geronimo’s band of Apaches removed from their former homes in Arizona as prisoners of war, and who, after some changes of location, were finally placed at Mount Vernon barracks, situated 28 miles north of Mobile and one-half mile from the railroad station whence the barracks takes its name. Forty-six of the original number were enlisted in Company I of the Twelfth infantry, and are on duty at the barracks.

There has been a great improvement in their condition. Each family is living in a comfortable home, they are cleanly, and have adopted the civilized style of dress. There is a good school adjacent, and children from the colony attend the school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

They have thriving gardens, they make baskets, and the women do washing and such work as is suitable at the post. Their surroundings indicate intelligence and industry.


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

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