, 1873-08-09

est upon t'o aano from to nte q tbeir raylnen! 10
tao present time, they reinqulshlng 10 tho United
tor contract Of purchHe nj well as for la abseqent
'lHu 1t,l nnd occupation by tho troops.
" inspoelos.aoneral u. ga.
Assistant J. A. aouoral.
Jonn T. sm,rlf,,
Golonol u. h. 4.
Under this franklin ateelo receives in rotnrn
for l.is aa0 000 paid ia 1867, and intorost at or
Smelling Reservation. 0s95 2O-1oOths aorcs, which
maAeg tho cost to him thoroof ffttfo moro than
81 7.35 per aero II was not foaaiblo to tako tho
other proposition, ~ Steele was bankrupt and
unablo to rofuud MY money.
Vinzvn OF tho Rkoato7l Aavcrttbcr.
From 10 l'osion Daily Adrcrtiscr Atty. 0.
Fort sl.cll!ng IL d name NOT altogether un-
familiar to American cars. 1t bocamo notorious
bnforo tho var, not, however, Oh nccount OF
battles fought tioro, Int on acco!tt oi tho NOR
cnntilo transaction by which tho tiilo pasBcd
from tho United atatoa Government io T. ring of
sl'ocnlatorB whoHo agout atil representative WAS
one i. Staele Fort Smelling is not SO much q
fort M n Government reservation will, cortnin
buildings upon it hucil az aro found Mt frontier
postn whore fow Hohl!era are ptntionou, and 4
trading b.1Buosn carried OH with tho Indians It
h on tito Mississli'pI above 81. Paul, In Msnno-
Of lend. III 1866 Steele oilorad llo Government
$4,000 for the whole property, but tho
ofFor was not accepted. Ayoar later J. H. Floyd
became Secretary OF War rlndor Jnmca Buchan-
an'a administration, Of sad memory. 10 him
Steele re,ewcd his proposition to pnrchaHo, but
In spite OF tho fact TINT lin ofror Of 11O, ,000 hal
been rejected, bid this timo hut s9O,000, ono
third to be Paid At onco md tho remainder in
oqual inatallmontB III two and tlireo years with
ont intorose. Floyd closed with this offer,
although there Ia no donht TINT tho price WIS
ridiculausly small, md that had tho aaln beon
fairly opon to competition five or aix limos that
about tho. halo woro noiAod abroad, mud
attracted tho attention Of CongroaB. An
Investigating .conmistoo examined in-
to tho l,uAiuosn and reported,
A majority Of tho Committee reported that tho
snlo WINS without authority Of lnw, that tho Soc
rotary Ind beon guilty Of d gross official fault,
that the buAincga bud beon conducted by inco1n-
potent agents and 30 caroloasly ns to Induce O
succossful combination ngninst thu Goyor1tncnt,
exclude al eonpotition, rosult in losa to tho
public treasury, and consequently tllat tile nalo
vas void, Tho recommendation OF tho report
failed Of adoption by Congress, which WIS not
! then 30 decidedly Republican ns now, but it
ysnch mon Us colfax, join a'S sho,msn, mar e. 1. 8 8
Dawes. Jerry Black was tic Attornoy-ao,,-
tral then, and BY his advice, Notwithstanding tho
exposure. the salo was communicated, aud al-
sthongl the contract contained all express atipt1-
atton TINT tho title should not vost in tho ps,r-
! chaser until ail thu purchase money had boon
paid, Floyd, apparently fearing further invests
h CATION Conveyed the reservation to steclo in
|; 1851, SGT, 900 being still due. What tho apoou-
h iiators thought Of thoir bargafn may DO inforred
from tho fact that thoy askod for ono twenty
:aoyenth part Of tho land without buildinga e25,-
1000.
+ was oiforod to tho stato Of minnesota for rau-
sdexyous, the owrer8 finding thor profit iu tic
business brought to tho place and In tho
tolls on tho ferry across tho river.
Subsequently, 1t wan oiroEcd to tho Unitol states
= for recruiting section, and occupied for that
, purpose, After time $4,000 month 1ont was
::donnndod for tho lind, or tho portion of it oc-
'cupied by Government, Which would pay MI in
'terost Of almost AZ por cont on tho whole coBt,
930,000. Secretary Stanton, whilo lo lived, ro-
peated1y refused to accodo to tho outrageous de-
mand, but tho spectators bided their timo.
After Secretary Dcllnap was established in Of
flco The following audhciouH bill waa presented
and allowed by the Secretary Of War:
Tho United States to r. Steele, Or.
jan. 2t, 1868.
yntion for military PURPOSES, from Arrii q,
1901. to Jan. "a, 1868, o!ghty-ono mouths, at
CT. By balsnco of purchase inoncy ooo
s1o2,ooo
Tho case thon stood in This sl,npo: steo1c hntl
purchased tho ro8eryation for 500, 600 OF Buio
Which d Committee Of Congress Ind declared
void, because private and not public. Ho OBJ
,,,r,n,e;s>,, ~, -,
tte9 p1ba95eton y. y uAyIAons ot Saoo9o' lnls
MAs a.! tne ohsea 5aatos received 1or u, but ior
tho uso OF u portion Of 1t for 1egH than
eight years tha Secretary Of War was roady
INV tho mnn in ;11ocol Tnosaaaeion aTj}Y nno
for Tim 1sn of nronortv roaiiv bnlona,r ~ III
Government. Tho actual result OF this opera
giyo Steele tic Fort snollinr reservation 4 't,i}
acroa of prime lind worth $500 00O. md a7S ioi)
cash for nothing received, S'0'S'0
But In fact Tits operation WINS not consnm-
mated. IL May, 187V an ap,aroptly nnrn,losn
RESOLUTION wnB gjinpod tbrou9h ConfyoaR n tIc
following purport: 'N o'Ne' ''' " 'N'
Rcsolvta, Tia. tho Secretary Of War bo md l,orobv
ia authorized and onpowored 70 seect sud aet apaEt
for ror1nsucnt military RESERVATION Of Fort sneIna
not less han 600 acre he plbiio Interests may
require for TINT purrose; an to quict ttlo to said
reae1yaon ana 10 settle III clns III relation thrreto
1a ea f9r ~ cantv S Gso au Occupation theseo upon prncl
f 1or1a nrono,t;on ~ +,,o f,o,,,.oa.a,o 49,. a,
urge Psopottion OF !Ne congressman cogni-
gans OF Inc 90; 9;flgtat nwll.ulo wore not IL Con-
S!osa mno!l tlns iehoiltlon paaset a1la tslo lest
e1a nos, Yetnnt4Pe o4aeavof 70 hna out what it