State of the Union AddressesHayes, Rutherford Birchard
History
State of the Union Addresses
Hayes, Rutherford Birchard
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
The experiment of sending a number of Indian children of both sexes to the
Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, in Virginia, to receive an
elementary English education and practical instruction in farming and other
useful industries, has led to results so promising that it was thought
expedient to turn over the cavalry barracks at Carlisle, in Pennsylvania,
to the Interior Department for the establishment of an Indian school on a
larger scale. This school has now 158 pupils, selected from various tribes,
and is in full operation. Arrangements are also made for the education of a
number of Indian boys and girls belonging to tribes on the Pacific Slope in
a similar manner, at Forest Grove, in Oregon. These institutions will
commend themselves to the liberality of Congress and to the philanthropic
munificence of the American people.
Last spring information was received of the organization of an extensive
movement in the Western States, the object of which was the occupation by
unauthorized persons of certain lands in the Indian Territory ceded by the
Cherokees to the Government for the purpose of settlement by other Indian
tribes.
On the 26th of April I issued a proclamation warning all persons against
participation in such an attempt, and by the cooperation of a military
force the invasion was promptly checked. It is my purpose to protect the
rights of the Indian inhabitants of that Territory to the full extent of
the executive power; but it would be unwise to ignore the fact that a
territory so large and so fertile, with a population so sparse and with so
great a wealth of unused resources, will be found more exposed to the
repetition of such attempts as happened this year when the surrounding
States are more densely settled and the westward movement of our population
looks still more eagerly for fresh lands to occupy. Under such
circumstances the difficulty of maintaining the Indian Territory in its
present state will greatly increase, and the Indian tribes inhabiting it
would do well to prepare for such a contingency. I therefore fully approve
of the advice given to them by the Secretary of the Interior on a recent
occasion, to divide among themselves in severalty as large a quantity of
their lands as they can cultivate; to acquire individual title in fee
instead of their present tribal ownership in common, and to consider in
what manner the balance of their lands may be disposed of by the Government
for their benefit. By adopting such a policy they would more certainly
secure for themselves the value of their possessions, and at the same time
promote their progress in civilization and prosperity, than by endeavoring
to perpetuate the present state of things in the Territory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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