The Umatillas
consist of not more than ten persons, selected from among men eminent for their intelligence and philanthropy, to serve without pecuniary compensation." This Board was the result of an earnest attempt on the part of President Grant to rescue the Indian service from the political mountebanks who trafficked in the welfare of a helpless race to gain the political support of the frontier country. To check the wholesale robbing of Indian supplies, the Board was clothed with authority to approve and supervise all Indian contracts; more especially, the members of the Board were to acquaint themselves with the needs of the Indians by personal visits to the reservations, that they might in some measure stand between the wolfish rapacity of the frontiersmen and the defenceless reservation Indians.
Felix R. Brunot and Vincent Colyer were appointed chairman and secretary, respectively, of the first Board. It is enough to say that they were qualified literally for their distinguished offices—"men eminent for their intelligence and philanthropy." The story of the labors of these men, of their visits to the agencies and Indian camps throughout the great West, of hardships endured for humanity's sake, securing justice, and denying to no lowly Indian the right to be heard in his own behalf, covers the brightest page in Indian history.
Felix R. Brunot appeared with his secretary at
31
