An Indian Agent Defends His Administration
Agent C.W. Young addresses allegations of monopoly and mistreatment of the Indigenous population at his reservation.
I am in receipt of your daily of the 12th inst., in which appear charges against my official acts. In your editorial, you state that the Indians complain of not being fairly treated by me; that they are compelled to buy their goods of S. Baxter, the trader; that they are compelled to work for Baxter for less money than they could get from others; and that they are compelled to sell their pelts to Baxter for less money than others would give. You also state that one of Baxter's clerks has been drawing his pay from the Government. So far as any of the assertions relate to me, I pronounce them unjustifiably false in every particular. So far as Baxter's monopoly of the trade with the Indians is concerned, I have to inform you that he is the licensed trader at this agency, and by the terms of his license he is entitled to a monopoly of all trade in the Indian country. I am aware that the enforcement of these laws is very objectionable to a certain class of people. It is well known that these Indians go to Port Townsend and even to your Queen City to purchase supplies, and I have always given them passes to do so whenever they have applied.
“I have to inform you that he is the licensed trader at this agency, and by the terms of his license he is entitled to a monopoly of all the trade in the Indian country.”
This letter highlights the tense, paternalistic, and exclusionary power dynamics of the 1880s Washington Indian Agency system. It reflects the era's ongoing struggle between private commercial interests, federal oversight, and the autonomy of the Indigenous peoples on the reservations.
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