The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-01-14
4 FEW SIxPLE STATEMENTS.

A FEW SIMPLE STATEMENTS.
BELLrroSrA1SE, ONO, Dec. o3rd, "a.
EDITOR CHRONICLE:
Ny attention llas just .been called to an |
editorial in your paper Of the 18th, re
fecting on me personally. Itsecms to me
in this case the old adase is again veri-
fed. THAT if any one hunts for flowers
he will find flowers, but il he hunts for
vefmin he will find vcrlnin." / am will
ing to believe that you have been misled
by not having Knowledge of the facts in
the case, for surely you would not know
ingly and maliciously so deeply injure
stranger who never did you any harm
that he is aware of.
But will you allow one who feels him
self deeply injured by your editorial Of
the 18th make few simple statements in
explanation of thcscharges you make
against him?
In regard to the Indian land being al
most enclosed by substantial fence"
Here l find that a paragraph was lief, out
Of the original report either in TRANSCRIPT
ing or printing. 1t should read ''the bal
ance referring TO the Indian land) is used
for pasturagc for the ponies. The trespass
Of their ponies on the premises of the
neighboring farmers is frequent source
Of dissatisfaction, and this could be
easily remcdied if they would but allow a
fence to be joined to neighbors on the
southwest and on the north. In this way
the source Of difficulty could be easily re-
moved as nearly all is enclosed with
substantial fence" Isincerely regret the
omission of this paragraph which you will
at once see is necessary to make the sense
complete. l do not say in my report that
fence belongs to the Indians. l had no
reference to the little fields fenced off by
the Indians, but / desired to show the
Department that this source of complaint
Could be easily stopped If the Indians
would only allow a fence to be made at
the points referred to. There is fence
along the r. r. on the east, and Mr..
Burgess fence on the south, and there is a
fence on the west; on the north towards
Montour it is open if my memory serves me
right. l was making arrangements to
fence these several gaps, but the Indians
objected. These believe are the simple
facts in the case insist what l said
about that fence is correct. You say there
are not Is rods of substantial fence be-
longing to these Indians. All l have to
say in answer to this statement $50 and
see for yourself Look on the east of the
r. r., there is Joseph Tesso's and John
Ne-mo-k's, then west of the r. r. and over
towards the river you have Mcintosh,
and Ko-no and Magces and others.
My judgment Is that these fences arc
Substantial fences"
2. In regard to the amount of land under
cultivation. say in my report ''about"
100 acres. Inever measured the land but
/ supposed it to be about that amount.
Hon. L. Clark, former agent, more relia-
able citizen you have not in your county,
an his reports estimates the amount of
land cultivated about 100 acres, (scc Re
ports for 1868 &c, and since his time at
least 10 or IL acres have been cleared and
put under cultivation. Imay be mistaken
rs to the amount, but l endeayored to
estimate the amount correctly.
3. According to my advice quite num-
Der Of families did erect their tents on lots
OF land they cultivated as reported.
These lots of land were assigned to them
much 81 tie work, it IS also true that the
men, on those lots referred to, did a good
deal Of work. do not say in my report
that the men did the work but "thc fami-
lies did the work. and my son says he
did advise and direct them.
4. In regard to the property of the
tribe. The agent is only asked to approx
mate the wealth. endeavored to do this
to the best of my ability. had to rely
on the Indians manly for facts. They re-
ported to me that they had in their posses
sion as property about 2S5 ponies, and that
the average value Of their ponies per head
was about $40 each, saying that their
former agent valued them at $45 each,-
which would make .$1o,825
Their corn, beans, potatoes, pump
kins, &C., I set down at .......$ 1000
The money and valuablcs ..... 400
lOtaI. Ia, 20
but regarded the valuation of their
ponies TOO high SO said in my report that
they are worth NEARLY $4,000" believe
this TO be nearly" if not quite correct.
The former agent in his report of farming
statistics, estimates their wealth, (not in
GLIDING lands) at $l3.al5, lsee Report for
1871, pages 516.) think he was as, care
full as was in making my report. l see
by report of 1868 they reported 265 ponies
they now report 2S5. think my estimate
is not too high.
5 With regard to the school-house. In
your editorial of the nth you say, "that
although an appropriation of 1900 has
been Tong since made by Congress for the
purpose OF building school house vet
not one step has been taken towards hav-
ing such q building erected is pro-
badly (you say part Of the bank capital
in the institution where the degenerate
offspring of the mighty missionary noe
drdsos salary as bank clerk while his pay
as Indian farmer in Tama county, Iowa
Is stiN going on" Congress did make an
last sprung OF 81, 200 for the
purpose of building school-housc on the |
Indian lands in lama Co., Iowa. How do
you know that mot one step was taken
towards" building such house? I wish
10 say to you and all, that oil was done
that could be to carry out the object
nj the appropriation. It was deem
ed best to try to get the consent Of
The Indians first that the building
might be erected on their lands (Which
Is held in Zee SIMPLIFY The matter was
brought before them and discussed at
three meetings of the tribe, and at each
meeting the proposition was unanimously
voted down. and was moreover assured
by one OF the Indians whom believed
that the house would be burned if built.
In view of these and other facts equally
important, advised the Indian Depart
ment against erecting the school-hous
unless building could be erected at the
same time as residence for the agent and
.aaclar who could cora far tho .,.c,>o..