St. Louis University, June Ig, 1872.
Honorable Secretary C. DELANO, Washington, D. C.:
Honorable Sir.- I received yesterday a letter from the Honorable D. Wood, Governor of Utah, of which the following is a faithful extract: " Having been informed that the Fort Hall Indian Agency had been taken from the Catholics, I had a conference with Honorable C. Delano, Secretary of the Interior, when he was here (Salt Lake City) recently, relating to the matter; and he informed me that he desired to make reparation in the premises. I suggested and strongly recommended that there should be a Superintendent of Indian Affairs appointed for Utah Territory, and urged the appointment of Major M. P. Berry, the late Indian agent at Fort Hall, a Catholic and a good man, thoroughly competent, and in every way worthy of the place, and stating that in my judgment the Catholic Church would be much better satisfied with the superintendency than with the agency. He consented to create the superintendency and said that if the Catholic Church would ask the appointment of Major Berry, he would appoint him. During my administration as Governor of Oregon Major Berry was an appointee of mine and I know him to be in every way worthy of your confidence."
The Governor states: " That in his judgment the Catholic Church would be much better satisfied with the superintendency than with the agency." On this point allow me to observe Governor Wood labors under a great mistake. The Catholic Church exercises no pretensions whatsoever of this sort. All that the Catholic bishops and missionaries aim at, in this country of religious liberty, is to be allowed to follow on their right, in accordance with their call from above, to evangelize the Indians who have received them with joy, and not be turned out of the missions where they have labored for years with zeal and fervor for the welfare and salvation of the Indians, as has been the case in several sections.