Transcription

they have been constantly begging me ^to endeavor^ to have them removed to their old country, where they say the soil is more productive, where there is an abundance of timber, where mescal, mesquit[e] beans, wild potatoes and fruits are found in abundance, and where they would be far removed from their old enemies, the Comanches, Kiowa, and other Indians. 

      I am satisfied that the Navajos will never be contented to remain on this or any other reservation, except one located west of the Rio Grande, and I am also of the opinion that if they are not permitted to return to their old country, that many will stealthily return and in doing so commit depredations upon the people of New Mexico, and thus keep up a state of insecurity.      I therefore believe that it would be better for the Indians and the people of New Mexico, and a saving to the Government, and in the end more likely to succeed in civilizing and making them self-sustaining, to locate them upon a good reservation west of the Rio Grande. With regard to the precise location proper for these Indians, I am not