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[First Page] [265], (1) Lines: 0 to 47 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [265], (1) 兵 其 10 Siletz Indian Agency The position at Siletz differed from others Chalcraft held in the Indian Service. Although nominally he was the official in charge of schools, his role encompassed other duties as well. Most importantly, Chalcraft assumed responsibility for regulating the liquor traffic on the reservations under his jurisdiction and for processing Indian allotment claims. Those duties reflected the changing role of Indian agent from a broker of assimilation to a protector of Indian rights and legal advisor. Chalcraft remained at Siletz for over eleven years, until he reached the mandatory retirement age of seventy in November 1925, at which time he left the Indian Service and returned to his home in Seattle, ending a career of thirty-seven years. I arrived at Siletz Agency, eight miles north of Toledo, Oregon, on Friday, June 26, 1914, leaving the family in Seattle until I reported the conditions found at Siletz, and took charge of the Agency on July 1st. A sad accident happened that morning. Charlie Klamath, a very old Indian man coming to see me, was thrown from his horse a short distance from the Agency and injured so badly that he died in my office a half-hour later. Prior to my going to Siletz, Grand Ronde Agency north of Siletz had been abolished and its affairs added to those of Siletz Agency. A couple of years later, the Indian Agency at Roseburg was discontinued and the unfinished work turned over to Siletz. The jurisdiction of this Agency included all the non-reservation Indians living on allotments 265 [266], (2) Lines: 47 t ——— 0.0pt Pg ——— Short Page PgEnds: TE [266], (2) scattered over the public domain between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, from the Columbia River on the north to the California line on the south, making the Siletz jurisdiction inclusive of all the Indians in Western Oregon, which covered about one-half of the state.1 In approaching Siletz Agency from Toledo, it had the appearance of being quite a village. The Agency buildings, two general stores, Methodist and Catholic Church buildings, and private dwellings, occupied by white and Indian families, were on level ground at the foot of a hill; and on top of the hill were the old boarding school buildings, then vacant, and the Superintendent’s residence, facing the west overlooking the other buildings and a fine fertile valley of cleared land. The Siletz River flowing from the east passed theAgency about forty rods on the south, encircled the valley, a distance of about four miles, and came back to a point north of the Superintendent’s residence, near enough to permit a person to throw a stone into it from the house yard; then it turned directly north and flowed into the Pacific Ocean about twelve miles north of the Agency. The Siletz River had the reputation of being one of the best trout streams in the state. The Agency was seven miles from the Ocean with the warm Japan Current flowing down the Oregon Coast, making the climatic condition, both winter and summer, the best in which we had ever lived. When [I was] with Commissioner Cato Sells at Muskogee, Oklahoma , January 2nd to 6th as previously mentioned, we had a pretty thorough discussion of Indian matters in the field, especially in relation to intoxicating liquors. He was new in the Indian Service then and appeared to be seeking information and I frankly answered his questions as far as I knew, and made some suggestions that seemed pertinent at the time, which he seemed to appreciate. Superintendent Knott C. Egbert was a well educated man of pleasing personality, and deficient only in executive ability making him unable to meet emergencies in an efficient manner and be respected by the Indians. He did not fully understand their character and they took advantage of him.While he was remaining at theAgency to finish 266 其 Siletz Indian Agency [267], (3) Lines: 58 to 70 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Short Page PgEnds: TEX [267], (3) his official reports this was made clear to me and it was at this point I decided the course I would pursue in bringing the unruly individuals to their senses. Mr. Egbert left on July 24 to become Agency Clerk at Tekoa, Washington. The office-room was separated into parts by...

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