Circular Letter to the Superintendents & Agents of the Indian Department

Circular Letter to Superintendents and Agents of the Indian Department Department of the Interior Office Indian Affairs October 21, 1873 Sir: Many complaints having from time to time reached this Office in consequence of the absence from their reservations of various bands of Indians, and the actual and threatened depredations resulting therefrom, the Hon. Secretary of the Interior has directed that instructions be given to each of the Superintendents of Indian Affairs and Indian Agents, forbidding the exercise of such roaming propensities on the part of the Indians within their respective jurisdictions. In accordance with such directions, you are instructed to notify the several tribes or bands of Indians under your supervision that they must confine their movements wholly within the limits of their respective reservations; that under no pretext must they leave the same without a special permit in writing from the Agent or Superintendent, and that no such permit will be granted by the Agent or Superintendent except it shall be made to appear to his satisfaction that the issuance of the same will inure to the benefit of the applicant or applicants, and will in no event be likely to prove disadvantageous to the discipline of the Indian service. The interchange of visits between different parties or bands of Indians residing on reservations widely separated from each other is objectionable, especially in cases where the route of travel from one reserve to the other necessitates frequent contact with white settlements or mining districts. You will endeavor, by every means in your power, to impress upon the minds of the Indians the urgent necessity existing for a strict compliance with these instructions, to the end that the interests of peace and tranquillity on the border may be more efficiently subserved. In this connection reference is made to circular letter from this Office under the date of June 12, 1869, a copy of which is herewith inclosed for your information.