Imperial County CA Archives History - Books .....Fort Yuma Indian School 1918 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 15, 2006, 6:10 am Book Title: History Of Imperial County California FORT YUMA INDIAN SCHOOL BY L. L. ODLE FORT YUMA INDIAN SCHOOL AND AGENCY is located on a prominence in Imperial County, California, just across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. In the early days it was used by the soldiers as a fort which was abandoned between 1878 and 1880, at which time it was taken possession of by the Catholic Sisters and a school established for the Yuma Indians. In the year 1895 the United States Government took possession and it was made a boarding school. At this time the Indians were very superstitious and it was difficult for them to see the advantage of the school training. There was some trouble in getting the children in school, but they are beginning to open their eyes and the majority of the parents are anxious and willing for their children to be in school. The pupils are brought in at the age of five years and are kept at the school until they complete the primary work. They are also trained along the industrial as well as the academic lines. The girls are given special training in housekeeping, laundering, cooking, etc., while the boys are given dairying, gardening, carpentry, etc. After completing the primary work they are transferred to non-reservation schools, namely, Sherman Institute, Riverside, California, and Phoenix Industrial School, Phoenix, Arizona, these being the nearest industrial schools, and are given further industrial training where better results are obtained through association with pupils of other tribes. The Yumas are clannish, cling to their own language, and progress is slow when they remain in the boarding school after completing the primary work. Much improvement has been made to the buildings the last two years and the construction of new screen porches has added sufficient room for pupils to sleep in the open air throughout the year. The school farm containing 160 acres is located about one mile north of the school and is under cultivation. The income has been very noticeable the last six months and the garden has kept the school tables well supplied with fresh vegetables, pumpkins, etc. A great success has been made on the farm. The pupils are very fond of it and it is in great demand in the surrounding community. It is predicted that this school will produce the molasses used in most of the schools in the service after another year. The Yuma Indian Reservation lies to the north and west of the school. This contains 8000 acres of irrigable land under the Yuma Project. The soil is the best, with an abundance of water for irrigation and domestic purposes. Five years ago the Reservation was a wild wilderness of desolation. The Yuma Indians were considered the poorest in California. The government had done little for them. The tribe, now numbering 833, of whom 779 are full bloods, lived by raising pumpkins, watermelons, wheat and corn on the overflow lands of the Colorado River. Sanitary conditions were very bad and the death rate far exceeded the birth rate. In January, 1916, the entire Reservation was flooded, the Indians losing everything. By Act of Congress March 3, 1911, 8,000 acres were allotted, a share of 10 acres to each Indian, and to place these lands in cultivation about $100 per acre must be expended in labor. After the lands are grubbed, cleared and leveled for irrigation their equal cannot be found in this country, if in the world. As an illustration: alfalfa is cut from seven to ten times, yielding from three-quarters to three tons per acre at each cutting. Alfalfa seed is a very valuable crop, yielding from four to eight hundred pounds of seed to the acre which sells from 18 to 35 cents per pound. Two crops of seed can be made with two cuttings of alfalfa, the second crop of seed yielding from one to three hundred pounds per acre. Four cuttings of hay can be made with one crop of seed. Cotton raising has also been very successful, yielding an average of three-fourths to one bale per acre for long staple and one and one-half to two and one-half for short staple. Milo maze averages two tons per acre. Under the climatic conditions anything can be grown except products that require a damp or the extreme cold climate. The Yuma Indian is considered the best laborer among the Indians and he is on the road to prosperity, which is best shown in the following statistics: Lands irrigable ....................... .......8,000 acres Land cultivated by Indians, March 1, 1918.......1,600 acres Land value............................ ....$200 per acre Crop values for 1917..................... .....$62,075.00 Earnings, employed by others............. ......$31,555.00 About two-thirds of the reservation is leased to whites under the improvement plan and about 4,400 acres of this is in cultivation. Every effort is being put forth to get this land cleared and in crops and at the close of 1918 all lands will be in cultivation with the production more than doubled. It will be one of the richest and most productive reservations for its size in the United States and a credit to the Service. Health conditions have greatly improved in the last four or five years with much credit due the Physician, Nurse, and Field Matron. The following record will be interesting in this connection: Births Deaths Decrease 1911 17 53 36 1912 14 30 16 1913 22 28 6 Increase 1914 26 25 1 1915 28 14 14 1916 39 13 26 1917 38 18 20 Owing to climatic conditions and the location of the Fort Yuma School and Reservation it would be an ideal place for a sanatorium. It is predicted that in the near future the boarding school will be abandoned, day schools established on the reservation, and a government sanatorium established where afflicted Indians from all parts of the United States can be accommodated and nursed back to health. Additional Comments: Extracted from: THE HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY CALIFORNIA EDITED BY F. C. FARR IN ONE VOLUME ILLUSTRATED Published by ELMS AND FRANKS BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 1918 Printed by Taylor & Taylor, San Francisco File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/imperial/history/1918/historyo/fortyuma238nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 7.0 Kb