Letters/Correspondence
Hampton Institute Principal Samuel Chapman Armstrong responds to Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt's inquiry regarding the need for Captain Richard Henry Pratt to stay at Hampton to help care for and manage the Indian students. Armstrong states that it would be best for the Indians and...
Secretary of War George W. McCrary forwards and endorses a letter from the General of the Army in response to a request to grant Richard Henry Pratt the authority to remain at the Hampton Institute for three months. The note states that Pratt is supposed to be a cavalry officer in Texas, where...
Richard H. Pratt states that he currently has 57 male students at Hampton and is looking to recruit 20 female students. He goes on to say that he plans to send most of the former Ft. Marion prisoners currently enrolled at Hamtpon on outings, believing that placing Indian students in white...
Spencer Fullteron Baird, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, writes to Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz to endorse Captain Richard H. Pratt's request to establish an Indian School at the Carlisle Barracks. Baird contends that there is "no better spot" to open an Indian School because...
Richard H. Pratt informs Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt that it will take a week to place the male students from Hampton on farms in Massachusetts and then he will travel to Florida. Pratt expects to place a dozen male students on farms in Berkshire County as well.
Note: This...
Richard H. Pratt informs Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt that there are problems "persuading these Yankee farmers" in Massachusetts to be outing hosts for Hampton students. While seven farmers are interested in hosting a student, Pratt would like fifteen more.
Note: This item...
Hampton Institute Principal Samuel C. Armstrong states that they are currently educating 38 Indian boys and only 9 Indian girls, so he requests that they recruit 20 Dakota female Indian students. He requests that, if his wish is granted, Captain Richard H. Pratt be sent to secure the students...
Lieutenant Melville C. Wilkinson requests to temporarily engage in "Indian educational work" in Oregon, and Acting Secretary of the Interior A. Bell forwards and endorses Wilkinson's request to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of War. In his telegraph to the Secretary of War...
Secretary of War George W. McCrary informs Assistant Secretary of the Interior A. Bell that he does not have authority to allow Lieutenant Melville C. Wilkinson to engage in Indian education as Richard Henry Pratt is already in that line of work. Instead, Wilkinson will be sent to a college in...
Letter from Richard Henry Pratt to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra A. Hayt suggesting an increase in the per-student funding afforded by the government to Indian schools. Pratt also encourages the Commissioner to continue pursuing Congressional approval for the opening of an Indian school at...
Commissioner of Indian Affairs E. A. Hayt instructs the Acting Commissioner to allow Richard Henry Pratt to select 70 students from Sioux Nations and 30 from the Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Nations.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234),...
Adjutant General E. D. Townsend states that the Secretary of War has approved the Secretary of the Interior's request to transfer the Carlisle Barracks from the War Department to the Interior. The Barracks will be used as a school for Indian children and will be under the charge of Richard Henry...
Secretary of War George W. McCrary informs the Secretary of the Interior that he has issued orders to transfer the Carlisle Barracks to the Interior Department to use as an Indian school.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from...
The Chief Clerk for the Secretary of War forwards a series of documents to the Secretary of the Interior regarding the transfer of the Carlisle Barracks from the War Department to the Interior Department. First, Adjutant General E. D. Townsend issues Special Orders No. 194 stating that Richard...
Acting Secretary of the Interior A. Bell informs the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that he is giving permission to Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt to proceed to Lee, Massachusetts. Bell notes that Pratt will secure current Hampton Institute students who are on outing and take them to the...
Secretary of War Alex Ramsey transmits to Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz a report from Lieutenant E. T. C. Richmond indicating that the transfer of the Carlisle Barracks from the War Department to the Interior was completed on January 6, 1880 and correspondence regarding said transfer....
Captain William G. Mitchell issues Special Orders No. 52 ordering the transfer of the Carlisle Barracks from the War Department to the Interior Department, with the Barracks' commanding officer Lieutenant E. T. C. Richmond overseeing the transfer and taking inventory of the value of the...
Adjutant General E. D. Townsend informs the Commanding General of the Atlantic that the Secretary of War George W. McCrary has ordered that all "movable property" at the Carlisle Barracks be turned over to the Indian Bureau as part of the transfer of the Barracks from the War to Interior...
Richard H. Pratt forwards an estimate of cost for necessary repairs to the buildings at the Carlisle Barracks. These repairs, which are needed to prepare the buildings for use by the Carlisle Indian School, are estimated to cost $1,399.00.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National...
Acting Secretary of the Interior A. Bell informs the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that the War Department has transferred the buildings at the Carlisle Barracks to the Interior Department and that Special Agent Richard Henry Pratt is authorized to create an Indian school at the Barracks using...
Letter from Richard Henry Pratt to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, transferring his account of travel expenses from Florida. Immediately before this time, Pratt had been sent to Florida to locate, enumerate, and report on the condition of the Native Americans there.
List of supplies requested by Richard Henry Pratt for the school he is preparing to establish at Carlisle Barracks. Requested supplies include clothing, fabric, sewing supplies, tableware, cooking supplies, and firefighting equipment.
Pratt refers to this request list in a letter sent to...
Richard Henry Pratt forwards his Supplementary Property Return forms to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Letter from Superintendent Richard Henry Pratt to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra Hayt, forwarding drawings of the Carlisle Barracks and a copy of the transfer order. Those enclosures are not included here.
Correspondence from Superintendent Pratt to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ezra Hayt noting that any communication regarding supplies will receive immediate attention.
Other documents from this same time period attest to Pratt's desperate need for supplies at Carlisle Barracks, before the...
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