Letter-1840, January 27

Transcribed letter from R.W. Cummins, Indian Agent, Fort Leavenworth Agency to C. A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs to Joshua Pitcher, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St, Louis, Mo. dated Jan 27, 1840

.

Fort Levenworth Agency
January 27. 1840

Sir

    The Delaware Cheifs in council a few days since requested me to inform the government, that they had visited the manual labor scholl established within this agency for the purpose of educating Indian children, and had an investigation with the agent of the institution relative to this plan proposed for the management and education of Indian youths and that they wished the interest arising from their school funds to be applied in the following manner, To wit,

    $1000, One thousand dollars annually for the purchase of agricultural implements for the use of the nation and the remainder of the interest per annum to educating their children at the above mentioned school,

    Althoug I have repeatedly told them that I felt sure that the President could not under their Treaty, nor would he apply their school funds or any part for any other purpose than for educating their children, that he was of opinion that it could not be applied in any other way so profitable to their nation, they still insisted on making the request,

    The Delawares absolutely need some agricultural implements, such as wagons, plough plough [?gun] etc. and my opinion is that the government ought to furnish them with a reasonable quantity under the supplementary article of 1829, to their Treaty of 1818, an appropriation was made for this purpose, and part of the funds placed in my hands to furnish them with agricultural implements, for the following reasons I. furnished them a small portion only, I. was ordered to return all the funds in my hands, this among others, which I. done, at the time disbursing agents were taken from the army for the Ind. Dept, the reason why I did not furnish them with moore agricultural implements, was that when the Delawares first came to this place they new but litle of the us of them, the hoe the principal tool used by them for making corn, I. was fearful as they did not understand their use & value that they might barter them off to the whites and had kept back a part of the funds intending to purchase them as fast as they would learn their use & need them,

I am Respectfully
yr. obt Sevt
Rich W Cummins
Indian Agent

Major Joshua Pilcher
Suptdt Ind Affairs
St. Louis MO

.

[Transcribed from National Archives microfilm series M574, roll 63 frames 287-288 by Debby Williamson August 1992]