Office Indian Agent
April 14th 55
Dear Sir
Since I last wrote you I have been kept quite busy indeed, attending to calls from Applegate & Gallice Creek, although nothing serious has occured, and I do believe there is no harm meditated against the whites by the Indians, a company had organized at Gallice Creek to chastise the Indians, fortunately Captain Smith and my self arrived in time to have a talk with the Indians which explained things satisfactorily. It seems that two white men had induced the Indians to rob a camp of Chinese in hopes that that would drive the Chinese away, in doing of which the Indians obtained some good revolvers which alarmed some of the men who supposed they were stolen to be used against them they accordingly went in pursuit of the Indians, the matter was finally compromised by Chief George
whipping the Indians who committed the theft, and the whites driving away the two white men who had been the cause of the difficulity. A similar occurance took place on Applegate Creek which resulted in "Lyre Bill" being shot in the shoulder, though not serious, the matter was amicably settled and the Indians agreed to leave Applegate and remain for the present in Illinois Valley & on Deer Creek they cannot be induced to stay on the Reserve without being furnished food & in fact I believe at this season of the year if they were compelled to stay on the Reserve they would most certainly starve to death.
I transmit to you a survey of the ground broken by Brownlee, Miller & others, there is no papers in the office showing who was the original contractor, but I learned that Hughs (who owns the mill near the reserve) was the first contractor and that he employed Brownlee to do the work he, Hughes furnishing the team and seed.
The Horses turned over by Mr. Culver late Agent are worthless and the little grey was shoulder strained last fall from which he has not recovered the other has been used up by the Indians [...]