Letters/Correspondence

Richard Henry Pratt requests to employ a short hand type writer during July, August, and part of September 1889 in order to correspond with outing students.

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to spend $400 a year for traveling and incidental expenses of school agents to visit students on the outing program. In addition, he requests $60 to purchase ice for the hospital, kitchen, and school use during the fiscal year.

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to add an addition to the teacher's mess hall. Pratt details the work to be done and notes that most of the work can be done in house.

Estimate of funds for the first quarter of 1891 amounting to $20,356.86 for support of the school and transportation of Indian supplies, $8,000.00 of which is for regular employee pay. 

Richard Henry Pratt requests assistance from the Office of Indian Affairs in securing students for the upcoming school year. Pratt specifically asks for the office to send letters to encourage agents at various agencies to help secure students. Pratt further notes that he is sending Marianna Burgess and Kate Irvine to New Mexico with the…

John Elm writes to the Office of Indian Affairs regarding the arrangements surrounding his return home. Elm states that because he signed the employee list he was ineligible to be returned to his home at Government expense according to Richard Henry Pratt. Elm inquires if this is right because he was otherwise restricted to the rules of…

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to purchase $150 dollars worth of postage stamps and another $150 in the open market for canned goods, fruit, crackers, etc. for the special diet of hospital patients.

Captain Richard H. Pratt provides the Commissioner of Indian Affairs with a list of irregular labor required for August 1889. Pratt also includes details on compensation, position title, and the number of workdays required for the month.

Richard Henry Pratt replies to a letter from Thomas J. Morgan regarding his appointing a new School Physician. Pratt notes that he is not satisfied with any of the applicants and that he will discuss the position further when he visits Washington D.C. in a few days.

Louis L. Robbins, Superintendent of the New York Warehouse, asks for instructions for shipping 5,000 pounds of hominy from Omaha to Chicago for the Carlisle Indian School as there is no provision for transportation. Robbins also provides details about purchasing hominy in New York as compared to Omaha.

B. P. Shuler, U.S. Indian Agent for the White Earth Agency, responds to an Office of Indian Affairs letter that he will provide full support to the agent of the Carlisle Indian School to secure students for the school.

C. E. Vandever, U.S. Indian Agent for the Navajo Agency, responds to an Office of Indian Affairs letter that it will be difficult to obtain students from the Navajo Agency for off reservation boarding schools. Vandever cites the fact that four former students died shortly after returning from Carlisle, including two sons of popular chief…

Captain Richard H. Pratt submits a report that lists irregular employees and includes details on their compensation, position titles, race, and the number of days worked at the school in July 1889. Pratt distinguishes between the "White Labor," whose names appear on the first page, and the "Indian Apprentice Labor" listed on the subsequent…

Captain Richard H. Pratt submits a report that lists new employees Anna S. Luckenbach and Lydia L. Hunt. These reports include personal information about those being hired. Pratt also sends Luckenbach and Hunt's applications for positions as teachers, including references. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Thomas Jefferson Morgan approves Pratt's…

Captain Richard H. Pratt submits a report that lists new employees (C. A. Merritt, Florence M. Carter, J. B. Given, Chester P. Cornelius, Annie B. Moore, Clara Anthony, Jemima Wheelock, Julia Bent, Charles Monteravia, Yamie Leeds, Howard Logan), those who have left the school (Bertha V. Agpell, Lavinia Bender), and those who have changed…

Richard Henry Pratt forwards a letter from A. R. Boyer, a Mission Teacher at a Creek school to enroll three Creek students at the Carlisle Indian School. Boyer provides some details about the students and requests more information about the school.

Pratt in his letter to the Office of the Indian Affairs comments on the ruling of the…

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to purchase a new range for the teacher's and employee's mess hall along with a galvanized boiler.

Richard Henry Pratt responds to a suspension in his cash papers for the 1st and 2nd quarters of 1889 regarding a voucher for Obadiah G. Given which lacked a receipt. Pratt notes that he does not have the sub-voucher referenced and would a like a copy from the Office of Indian Affairs in order to supply the office with vouchers that will meet…

Richard Henry Pratt follows up on his request that the incorrect voucher for receipt rolls be returned to him.

John L. Bullis, Acting Indian Agent for the San Carlos Indian Agency, informs the Office of Indian Affairs that he has six members of the White Mountain band of the Apache Nation who wish to enroll at the Carlisle Indian School. He asks for further instructions from the Office.

Captain Richard H. Pratt provides the Commissioner of Indian Affairs with a list of irregular labor required for September 1889. Pratt also includes details on compensation, position title, and the number of workdays required for the month.

Richard Henry Pratt follows up with Thomas J. Morgan after Morgan's visit to the Carlisle Indian School. Pratt encourages Morgan to send out his views in a circular to agents and superintendents.

Richard Henry Pratt requests that three crates of smallpox vaccine be sent to the Carlisle Indian School. Twenty-two pupils from the Laguna village are set to arrive at Carlisle shortly, and Pratt notes that his agents who were recruiting in New Mexico found that in six of the seven villages there were smallpox outbreaks, including at Acoma…

Richard Henry Pratt notifies the Office of Indian Affairs that Dr. Sheldon's candidate has declined due to having a better salary elsewhere. Pratt also notes that he has advised Romeyn that he will take Miss Merrett as well as that he would like to have Foster but the position must be recreated.

Richard Henry Pratt submits his tenth Annual Report for the Carlisle Indian School on September 1, 1889 to the Office of Indian Affairs. Included are statistics related to the school followed up a report from Pratt that provides a brief history followed by the enrollment statistics for the school year as well as an outline of the outing program…