The Van Buren press., 1870-06-14
aour ohiect 1. moi io iniure or rctard any


aOur object Is not TO injure or rctard an,
company that may be seeking passag'
through the Indian Country, only to put ou
Indian friends on their guard, that In wfa
they NAV do on the railroad projects, may b'
done Understandings, and with an eve Il
I their own best interest. We are now satisfied
that the above companies, or company arr
composed of gentleman as worthy a. any Una
are prospecting in our State and far better
than some We shall refer to this company
again, as we have no desire or interest to in
lure. or misstate the objects ofit.'-|on Ba
reA Press, My 3lst
\ LITTLE Rock, June 4th. 1870
EpfroR VAN BuRES PREss-
Dear Sir 4: In your very fair and courteous
article. of May 3lst. on the Choctaw and
Chickasaw 35th Parallel Railroad Company
you refer to lne the question of the identity
of that corporation with the 35th Parallel
Railroad Company Of Arkansas.
Let me premise my statement of the sub
stantial Identity of the two, by correction
of the lists Of names which you publish. a
reference to the letter In the Gazette VIII
show you that the names of the gentlemen
there mentioned, in connection with the
Choctaw and Chickasaw Company, were only
SELECTED, for illustration, from among others
of hindred reputation" That of the corpora
tors of the Arkansas company, previously
published in the Gdxete, was owing to acci-
dental omissions in the copy officially fur
nished) defective, and has since been correct
ed, in that journal.
The original members of the 35th Parallel
Railroad Company OF Arkansas, incorporated
in the summer of 1860, We're: Dudley ID.
Jones, I. d. w. Yonley, Liberty Bartlett
John Stoddard, ID. II. Barnes, George W.
Denison, James NJ. Pomeroy, Sampson Fol-
som, James NJ. Johnson, Lucien J. Barnes, s.
III. Tucker, $. l.. Griffith, X. G. Jennings,
James 4. Mitchell. James McLeran, j. w.
Smith, aud e. II. Whittemore; of whom, the
thirteen gcntlcm en- first named were consti-
tuted Directors of the Company. Other sub
scribers have since been admitted and two
vacancies occurring in the Board have been
filled by the election, as Directors, of c. IT,
Whittemore and James Caribaldi.
The company proposed to build road from
Little Rock, westward, along the rich valley
of the Fourche Ia Fave, and substantially on
the line of the 35th Parallel of latitude, to the
Chocta,c line. Upon obvious principles. no
company could, by virtue Of its creation un-
der the law of Arkansas obtain corporate
rights in the Choctaw Nation--the incoi pora-
tion of a company under the authority of that
Nation, and the practical consolidation of the
two for purposes Of business, presenting the
only convenient method OF accomplishing the
object
The Choctaw and Chickasaw 35th Parallel
Railroad Company was Incorporated by spec
ial Act of General Council, approved April
Sth, 1870; with a directory composed as fol-
lows. The Principal Chief (Allcn Wright
Robert M. Jones, jackson McCnrtain, James
Thompson. Basil l.. Lcflore, and George Du-
rant, Of the Choctaw Nation, Joseph ID. Har-
ris, and George ID. James, of the Chickasaw
Nation, and Dudley L. Jones, S. Ii. Tucker,
ID. III. Barnes, 5. l.. Griffith John Stoddard,
James Nj. PomeroY, and Henry S. Brooks, OF
Arkansas; all of which gentlemen, except
Messrs. Leflorc and r. NJ. Jones, have ntma-
ted their acceptance Of their Office
The enterprise is one the two companies
are one foi all purposes of business, their in
terests being identical; and | may state In
corroboration, ifany be needed, that Mr.. Dud-
ley L. Jones, OF Little Rock, Is President Of
both companies.
l am sincerely 10Th to add word thai
might seem ungracious; but as your first art
icle appeared on the 10th of May, and did no
reach Tishimingo until after the 18th, OF
which day the adjournment ofthc Chickasaw
Legislature took place, fear you must aban
don the idea that that editorial "had the de-
" sired effect, in inducing the Chickasaws t
"withhold for the present any action" etc
We presented, by the way, no propositions tC
the Chickasaws; nor do we propose doing s,
in any haste. We have our Choctaw charter
irrevocable forever, but upon our own vol
untary forfeiture of its conditions; and as W,
have ample employ ymcnt for all our time ant
resources, cast of the Chickasaw line, for tn,
present, we can very well afford to defe
seeking privileges from the Chickasaws, unit
we shall stand in more immediate need o
such. regret, for the sake of our friends 0
the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad
who do not appear to appreciate the facilities
which we have arranged to afford for the con
tinuation of their line westward that til,
agents of our company will continue to b,
present, for purposes of observation, ut eacl
meeting of the Chickasaw Legislature; inso.
much that the charter which the representa-
tves of that company, In attendance on til,
past two sessions Of the Tishimngo Council
are understood to have carried in their pock-
cts, not venturng to produce it in the face
of the propositions which 1t was known W,
were ready to offer, may be destined still to
blush unseen Notwithstanding the Innocent
ly avowed intention of the directory of the
company, to be "fully represented" before
the Chckasaws, in September next.
! We have not sought any newspaper noto-
ricty; on the contrary, our sil, nee in the past
would appear to have occasoned much dis
tress but 1t Is due to the courtesy of your re-
cent article, as well as to the stockhoders,that
fair questions such as you ask should receive
all answer, and that any grave errors OF state.
ment, respecting our enterprise, should hay,
correction.
Respectfully yours,
JAMES NJ, POMEROY.
A----------s~~~e--------
Two GREAT QUESTIONS Finance and
taxation will pretty soon be the absorb
ing questions Of the day. The East puts
the screws to the West and the Wes,
| howle occordinoly Now LOT tho Sontl