Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-12
LoGAN'S PROPOSED ROBBERY.
a Clear Statement OF the Case OF the
2unis and the Senator.
W. E. Curtis in Chicago Tribune.

W. We IL ih NhiSaSo lilDuuC.
The mis- are o little community
living in the midst of q desert, 5000
feet above the sea, near ''the grand
divide" which forme the bsckboge of
the continent, and stretches from
Alaska to the isthmus of Panama
When Coronado led his army Of con-
quest from the City of Mexico north
ward In 154O, searching for the seven
cities of Cibols, whose walls were said
to be of silver and gold, he found
L1ni, and conquered Its peopsse. Since
that day they have never killed q
white man. Tney have herded
q few sheep and a fow cat.
tie; they have cultivated a few
acres of ground, and lived peace
fully and contentedly, spinning wool,
making blankets, and performing
their curious religious rites, which
which were inherited from their an.
casters, the Aztecs. The government
has given them no assistance, and they
have asked none. Not q dollar have
they cost the Taxpayers Of the nation,
either for war or for supplies. Nc
treaty has ever been made with them
because none Was required. They
we're satisfied with their condition end
are IS proud If their antiquity and
traditions as are the descendents OF
the pilgrims the MAJ flower brought.
When the land grant of the Atlantis
aud Pacific railroad Was being sur.
veyed, President Hayes directed
the Indian agent at Santa
Fe to describe the lands occupied
and used by the Zuni Indians III
order that they might be withdrawn
from the market. A mistake was
made in this description, two of the
four springs upon which the Indians
depend for their water supply, and
the Nutrias valley, which Ia the mos
fertile and In facs the only fertile tract
of all their posaesaionr, not being In.
Guided. The error was discovered
last fall, five or six years afrerit wa
made. Major Tucker and aHsc oistel
Immediately located ''homestead" anc
"desert land claims upon the Nutria'
valley, and their papers were sent tt
Washington. The commissioner O
the general land office postponed actor
upon the case until the disputed
boundary lines should be determined
and, the matter being brought 10 tn,
attention of the president, a procla
nation was Issued correcting the mis-
take and restoring to the Zunis theil
farms and pastures and springs. NJ
one denies that there was q mistake
no one doubts that 1t was the inten
tion of President Hayes to includ'
the Nutrlss valley in the Zuni reserva
ton. The question Gan, Logan ha
raised Is, whether the Indians shoulc
suffer and his son.in-law profit by tn,
error Of the Indian agent.
The point Gsn, Logan makes in hi
letter to you is, that the Zunis alresd,
T have more land than they need, al
though he admits that nearly all the,
have Is desert, and not sven capa
BILE of sustaining animal life. III
shows that they have ], 100 acres t
each family, and ought to. be able t
get along with less. Thai is true. !
dozen acres of good land will do a
we'll for them as l, 100 acres of sue
land as they have, and l do not thin
the Zunis would object to Maj
fuckers locating upon almost any PAL
of their reservation except the Nutrla
valley. He has applied for 800 acre
8 and his associates for l $50 acres mort
and the 2 ,40O acres embrace nearly q
the fertile land they have. This 4
d In brief, the situation, and the que
ton which Gen. Logan asks the GOV
eminent Is, which has the hight
right to the Nutrias valley, his son.ir
s law or the Z1ni IndianLl If the cal
were reviewed; If Mr.. Tucker had Gu
tivsted aud herded his iocks upo
o these lands for three or ten centurie
n whether no had a written and recort
g ed title to them or not, / do not b
o lleve the secretary of the interiC
i would listen to the application Of a
Indian or a white ,itizsn for the
d possession. The color of a felloy
p creatures skim makes all the difs
It ence in the world.
u