La Pointe Agency

I have just returned from Lac Courte d'Oreille, where I have been to deliver the annual goods and supplies, and to superintend the farming operations carried on upon that reservation... I found a larger number of Indians gathered upon the reservation than at any time since the first year I came to the agency.

In looking over their patches, for their farms are in miniature as yet, they were seen to be well tended and well fenced; and as I looked upon the nearly twelve hundred Indians as they received their goods... I could not but compare them with the same number gathered in the fall of 1873. Then they wore long hair, blankets, feathers, paint, &c.; they were dirty, filthy and almost eaten up with vermin. Now they are clean, with short hair, blankets rare, little paint, no feathers, and most of them well clothed... They received the goods with thankfulness. Mildness and gentleness were pictured upon every face. They respected their agent and loved the Government that dealt with them so bountifully. This is the reservation on which Mr. and Mrs. Holt commenced the work of civilization. Truly the seed was well planted, and although for years we have only been able to hold our own, now, as the times look favorable, we hope for grand results.

These are the Indians who must go to the personal care of another. I leave them with sadness, yet cherishing a grand hope of their future. I have done what I could, and hope they may fall into good hands, for the field is ripe for the harvest.