Request to Spend Funds

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to send four sick students home to Indian Territory and funding for their escort, B. S. Reynolds. The four students, who have all been examined by the school physician and Office of Indian Affairs representative Dr. Kellogg, are Samuel Kahton (Ponca), Beau Niel (Arapaho), Fanny (Kiowa), and Charles Bear.…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to spend $90 on the purchase of butter, milk, eggs, and fruit for sick students and the "general health of the school."

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the…

Richard Henry Pratt calls attention to his request for $1,000 to purchase supplies to manufacture clothing.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-80."

Richard Henry Pratt requests to add a $1,980 purchase of four hundred tons of coal to his "special" estimate of funds.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-80…

Richard Henry Pratt requests $800 from the Commissioner of Affairs to supplement funds he has raised from donors in order to install a heating apparatus in the boys quarters. Pratt states that last winter, the male students were very cold at night and suffered from illnesses due to their current heating system, which relies on coal stoves.…

Richard Henry Pratt requests that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs authorize Agent Miles' expenses incurred while transporting a party of six Cheyenne and Arapaho chiefs and their children as well as Daniel Tucker from the Carlisle Indian School to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Tucker and the chiefs' children are all Carlisle students.…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to spend $250 on "fitting up and furnishing" five teachers' rooms.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-80."

Richard Henry Pratt requests to spend $150 to redo the wash on the exterior brick walls of buildings. Pratt notes that they have just finished painting all the buildings' tin roofs and are now painting the wooden exterior walls, so he desires to put a new wash on the exterior brick walls as well.

Note: This item was copied from U.S.…

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to purchase two tailor's heavy Singer sewing machines amounting to $70 for the school's tailor shop.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of…

Richard Henry Pratt describes the benefits of photography in assuaging parents' fears of sending and keeping their children at the Carlisle Indian School and believes that it would be similarly beneficial to send photographs to Indian agents, teachers, and missionaries. As such, Pratt requests to spend $150 on photographs.

Note: This…

Richard Henry Pratt requests authorization to spend $40 to allow all the Carlisle Indian School's staff, teachers, and students to visit Cooper and Bailey's Menagerie "collection of animals" in Carlisle. Pratt believes the event will help educate the students about natural history.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives…

Richard Henry Pratt states that last year both the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs agreed that he should rent a farm adjoining the Carlisle Indian School to teach male students how to farm "general crops" and female students how to care for dairy cows. Unfortunately, he was only able to rent two parcels of land…

Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to spend $200 on repairing floors and enlarging the wash and bathroom facilities in the boys' quarters.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to purchase a four foot extension to the school's cooking range and two copper boilers totaling $126. He explains that the current range is too small to accommodate the recent increase in students.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to spend $90 on butter, eggs, milk, and other food that the school physician believes is necessary for the students in poor health.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to spend $645 on flour and $1,686 on beef for the first quarter of 1881.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-80."

Richard Henry Pratt informs the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that his students are very hard on their clothes and that many of them have outgrown their clothing from a year ago. He requests to spend $2,000 on materials needed to manufacture new uniforms for his current students as well as new students from the Navajo and Pueblo Nations.

Richard Henry Pratt requests that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs approves spending $300 to convert the stable to a gymnasium for the male students. Pratt explains that they moved the animals to the rented school farm and no longer use the stable.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to purchase 300 washable bedspreads and blankets for the male students in order to increase cleanliness. Pratt notes that he believes it will cost $495 or less.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to purchase livestock amounting to $1,000 to stock the new school farm. Pratt notes that he would like to purchase 4 horses or mules, 12 cows, 1 blooded bull, 25 sheep, 2 sows, 1 boar, and 50 chickens.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to purchase a variety of school supplies in the open market amounting to $1,100 during the first quarter of 1881.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of…

Richard Henry Pratt requests to purchase 11,000 feet of yellow pine flooring and 4,300 feet of hemlock joints amounting to $442 to repair and replace flooring in the school building and the boys' quarters. Pratt adds that student apprentices will be able to do the work.

Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm…

Richard Henry Pratt seeks additional funding to purchase food to meet the requirements outlined by the school surgeon for ill children, including butter, milk, and eggs.

Richard Henry Pratt requests to replace the gutters on older buildings to prevent further damage to the structures. Pratt outlines the cost of the tin to update the gutters as well as hiring an additional mechanic on the irregular rolls.

Richard Henry Pratt notes that the school will have additional children than in previous years necessitating additional beds and pillows. In addition the previous bed stands are not as durable as hoped.