Between 1850 and 1875 the education of Indian children was confined to various missionary and philanthropic organizations. Indians could avail themselves of collegiate education in the East, notably at Dartmouth College, which was founded for the education of Indian youth. But there seems to have been no systematic, or persistent attempt to educate Indians until 1879, when Captain R. H. Pratt, U. S. A., began the education of Indian boys and girls. In September that year, the Carlisle barracks were transferred by the War Department to the Interior Department for Indian school purposes. By the end of October, General Pratt gathered together 136 Indians. The number steadily increased; in 1905 there were about a thousand; and at the present time the school cares for, during the course of a year, something like 1200 pupils. This remarkable school had up to 1905 admitted 5,170 Indians. Early in General Pratt’s administration, an outing system was inaugurated. Most of the boys and girls were placed in families of prosperous citizens of Pennsylvania, New York or Massachusetts during the summer months. This brought them in direct contact with the best elements of the white race and served a double purpose. It not only taught them industry and proper methods of living, but brought home to the youth of both sexes the vast difference between the life of white citizens in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey or elsewhere, and the frontier element with which so many of the Indians had come in contact. This does not necessarily imply that all persons living near Indian reservations were undesirable citizens. It means that entirely too many white persons by their example did not impress the Indian with any respect for the white race, and that such individuals set a very low standard. This feature of Indian (or white) life has had a tremendous effect on the Indians. Other writers have not emphasized its importance, and its pernicious effect. Beyond question the fact that the Indians came in contact with those who were not “substantial citizens,” as we understand the term, is responsible for many evils, and a general lack of progress, and a widespread inclination to accept merely the veneer of our civilization. General Pratt’s plans, therefore, were not only sound, but of great benefit in the uplifting of the race. Other schools have followed the excellent example set by Carlisle, and it is now pretty generally recognized that the Indian youth must be made to realize that the majority of American citizens are not of the type of the Indian trader, the grafter, the squaw-man, etc. The illustrations presented throughout this and the succeeding chapter will give an idea of the various activities followed at Carlisle, Chilocco, Haskell and other schools.