This subject was first brought
before Congress and the country by the Secretary of the Interior in
his annual report for the year 1877, in which he said:
The case of the Poncas seems entitled to especial
consideration at the hands of Congress. They have always been
friendly to the whites. It is said, and, as far as I have been
able to learn, truthfully, that no Ponca ever killed a
white man. The orders of the Government have always met with
obedient compliance at their hands. Their removal from their
old homes on the Missouri River was to them a great hardship.
They had been born and raised there. They had houses there in
which they lived according to their ideas of comfort. Many
of them had engaged in agriculture and possessed cattle and
agricultural implements. They were very reluctant to leave all
this, but when Congress had resolved upon their removal they
finally overcame that reluctance and obeyed. Considering
their constant good conduct, their obedient spirit, and the
sacrifices they have made, they are certainly entitled to
more than ordinary care at the hands of the Government, and I
urgently recommend that liberal provision be made to aid them
in their new settlement.
In the same volume the report of E.
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