1880-1889

Richard Henry Pratt requests that Congress provide an appropriation for building a new school building through the Office of Indian Affairs. Pratt notes that the school can accommodate 600 students except for its school rooms which are overcrowded at 440 students. He provides the history of the current building and the reasons for his request…

C. H. Grover requests to have Peter Curley, a member of the Pottawatomi Nation, enrolled at the Carlisle Indian School. Grover notes that Curley was previously a student at the Haskell Institute and was considered an excellent shoe maker.

Richard Henry Pratt forwards the request to the Office of Indian Affairs with a note that he favors…

Ridge Bear requests that his son Hartley Ridge Bear be returned to his home from the Carlisle Indian School. Ridge Bear notes his daughter, Hartley's sister, is ill and wishes to see her brother.

Richard Henry Pratt notes that he approves of the request due to the fact that Hartley was due to return to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency the…

Captain Richard H. Pratt provides the Commissioner of Indian Affairs with a list of irregular labor required for March 1888. Pratt also includes details on compensation, position title, and the number of workdays required for the month.

Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs of a request from the Oneida Agency to enroll six students at the Carlisle Indian Schools. Pratt requests that transportation be arranged for six from De Pere, Wisconsin to Carlisle.

Student William Brown writes to the Office of Indian Affairs asking permission to return to his home on the Pine Ridge Agency in the early spring in order to prepare his farm. Brown also notes that he is engaged to another student from Pine Ridge who attended Carlisle and is ready to start supporting his family. Brown ends by requesting if the…

Comanche Chief at Pawnee Agency writes to his daughter [not identified here, but Phoebe Howell] asking her to have Richard Henry Pratt inquire about the annual money for the agency. He also writes that since his daughter stayed at the Carlisle Indian School to work on outing as a seamstress, and so Gertie Wild was hired as a seamstress at the…

Jesse Knox requests to have children from the Mille Lac and Sandy Lake Agencies enrolled at the Carlisle Indian School.

Robert A. Parke, the Passenger Agent for the South-Eastern District of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, quotes the Office of Indian Affairs a rate of $12.15 per ticket for six first class tickets from De Pere, Wisconsin to Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Percy G. Smith, City Passenger Agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, provides a quote for transporting students from De Pere, Wisconsin to Carlisle.

Richard Henry Pratt inquires of the Office of Indian Affairs if their letter regarding Hartley Ridge Bear provides him authority to cover transportation for Ridge Bear from Carlisle to the Cheyenne Agency.

Richard Henry Pratt requests permission to return Harry Raven and Henry Outa to their homes due to ill health.

Acting Secretary of War, Brigadier General S. V. Benet informs the Department of the Interior that he has issued orders to the commanding officer in charge of Fort Barrancas to transfer custody of Katie to Richard Henry Pratt in order for her to enroll at the Carlisle Indian School.

Anna L. Dawes informs the Office of Indian that she has received a request from a member of the Cherokee Nation to continue her education at either the Carlisle Indian School or the Hampton Institute. Dawes asks if this can be accomplished through Government expense or if not through private charity.

Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs that 101 pupils are due to be returned to their homes after having spent five years at the Carlisle Indian School. Pratt digresses from his request to cover transportation for these pupils by discussing the fact that he feels their futures are much more uncertain by returning them to…

Richard Henry Pratt requests confirmation from the Office of Indian Affairs that his actions in placing seven more tickets at De Pere, Wisconsin through the Pennsylvania Railroad due to a request from the Oneida Nation to send six more students and an escort be approved.

Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs that his physician has recommended sending home four students from the Pine Ridge Agency due to poor health. Pratt requests that the transportation to Pine Ridge be provided to him and that he allowed to return them to their homes.

Richard Henry Pratt requests a telegram regarding a promise that the President and Secretary gave to a group of visiting Apache chiefs to send home two students at the Carlisle Indian School with them to serve as interpreters. Pratt recommends that the telegram say that the students will be sent at a future date.

Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs that Henry Outa is too weak to travel to his home. Instead his ticket is being used to return Harry Raven, who was also being sent home to illness.

Richard Henry Pratt requests that a ticket be provided for an escort of Oneida students back to De Pere, Wisconsin.

Cover letter forwarding descriptive statement of students who arrived from De Pere, Wisconsin on March 23, 1888 and those who departed for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency and the San Carlos Agency.

Note: The descriptive statement itself was missing.

Richard Henry Pratt asks the Office of Indian Affairs to confirm his actions in placing two additional tickets for girls from the Green Bay Agency at the request of the U.S. Indian agent for the agency.

Charles Robinson, Superintendent of the Haskell Institute, forwards a letter from Richard Henry Pratt requesting from the U.S. Indian Agent at the Pawnee Agency transportation for Pollock to the Carlisle Indian School. In the letter E. C. Osborne appends a note to the letter in forwarding the letter to Robinson that Pollock is now at Haskell…

Estimate of funds for the second quarter of 1888 amounting to $10,658.30 for support of the school. Richard H. Pratt also requests additional funds amounting to $7,292.50 for regular employee pay. 

Richard Henry Pratt notes that the Carlisle Indian School has been operating for eight years and has produced a number of students capable of becoming teachers. He proposes establishing a normal school course at Carlisle to better prepare future teachers rather than have returned students learn on the job.

Pratt also requests that if the…