Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1869-12-02
From State Register.
T:le HssSsiaEss OF EOyv.l.

! Thousands of the citizens of Iowa
are ignorant of the fact, that in one OF
the best settled counties Of the central
portion Of the State may be found the
| permanent home OF band OF Indians,
| nuin bcring no less than 26S souls.
| They own and occupy in the western
| part OF Iama county, 4i3 acres OF the
| best land III the Iowa River valley,
purchased with their own money At
| iiyc different times, as shoNn by the
deeds on record il the county. The
Chicago 81 North Western Railroad,
between lama City and Oxford, pass es
directly through their land aul the tray
eIer is sometimes surprised, in passing
through portion OF the country,
dotted with fine farms and handsome
cities. TO find himself suddenly in the
midst Of village of wig vans, with
all the paraphernalia OF savage lie
around him. There, in Tama county,
with its fifteen thousand white inhabi
tants, surrounded by churches, schools
ana all the elements of civilization
are Z | men, 81 women and lI3 child
rcn, clinoing with the tenaci,y that
seems to be inherent in their natures,
70 all thessuperstiiious rites and rude
habits OF savage lite. Many will be
curious to know how this remnant OF
the race-happened to retain this too.-
hold upon the hunting grounds Of
their fathers
Before the white man claimed the
beautiful lands along the Iowa River,
the Mus3uakio band of the Sacs and
Foxes had their iavoriie hunting
ground here, and acknowledged ne
higher authority than that Of their re
nowned eh;et, Powesl,;ek. All were
removed, however, with the rest OF
the Sacs and Foxes, to tho,r new home
beyond the Missouri. There they were
not contentea, and in short time
they began 10 return in small bands TO
their old home, and, as 4 penalty, the
Government declined, up to 1868, to
allow theln any part of the annuity tc
which the tribe was entitled. While
Mr.. Harlan had charge Of the Depart
ment OF the Interior, an order Was Is
sued allowing them their pro rata share
OF the annuity. Upon Mr.. Browning's
accession as Secretary of the Interior,
the annuity was Withdrawn from them
unless they would return to the tribe
III Kansas, but the Indians preferred
their Iowa home to Kansas and Uncle
Sans gold On the I'd Of March,
1867, Congress passed an act allowing
them their pro satg share of the annui-
ty as long as they are permitted by
the State to remain here and are well
behaved. In August, 1868, lion. lie
ander Clark, of Toledo, was appointed
TO act as their agent, and remained i'll
that position until relieved by Frank
y. Garretty, Lieut.. y. S. A, under the
regulation transferring the Indian BU-
reau to the War Department. The
new agent receives no compensation
in addition to his pay as an army Of
fcer, thus saving 1900 per annum to
the Government The Indians here
receive through the agent an aggre-
gate OF sll, 1850 per annum, in two
equal semi annual payments. The last
payment was made on the 22d of Oc-
tober, when they received s20.s5 for
each man, woman or child. The mon
ey is paid to the heads of families
We mention several prominent men
among them.
The principal chief is U'aa-aa-waa-e-
ka, a son OF the noted chief Poweshlek,
in honor Of whom one of our Iowa
counties is named. He is about 10
years of age, rather fine looking, but
man of few words, and highly esti-
mated by his people. He is q strict
teetotaler, says he never drank any
whisky, anI talks temperance to his
people.
Wa-kemo is the second, or subordi-
nate chief, and the "old man eloquent"
Of the tribe. He is about so years OF
age, stands six feet high, and is large
otherwise il proportion. He has u
keen eye, a quick intellect, and is q
fine talker, but cannot speak English.
lie is said to have even more influence
over his people than his superior.
There is also the regular Medicine
Man, Po-toc-to, who attends to all eases
of sickness in the tribe. lie is about
80 years old, and a brother OF the head
Chief.
The interpreter, Joseph Lesson de-
serves honorable mention for the rea-
son, that he carries his discharge as 4
Union soldier during the late rebell
ion. lie served during the term of