, 1883-12-15
Indi.. Rs,.zsiens.

| serve white settlers have nleu sru hHeu
upon small fractions of land in the hope
that some day the Indian land would be
thrown open to settlement The Fort
land Nears has a very sensible article up
on the subject, bu. apparently torsets
that it would be desirable that these
lands should remain as they are until the
outlying sections are taken up and brough'
into cultivation. The STATESMAN believes
in throwing the reservations open 10 set
tIement, but what If does not want Is to
see the lands distributed among lot OF
unscrupulous monopolists who will make
worse use of it than the Indians them
selves. Look at the Palouse country for
instance, where fully one-half OF the land
is held for speculative purposes. Right
at our own doors are tracts OF land miles
in length where not family resides ana
not a clothes line Is to be seen IN lis
whole extent. And 80 il Is the same
everywhere-mOnopolists and land grab
bers hold the soil and still want more.
Until these lands are divided up and
made to produce their diversified quota,
instead of wheat alone, as at present, We
do not look to the government to take
any particular action in throwing open 10
Hhite settlement the few reservations NO"
existing. The following article upon the
subject contains some useful information:
"a few years ago the Government
made treaties with our Indian tribes and
gave them lands with the belief that 1t
would be a long time before settlement
and population would reach them. Even
the Uma.illa reservation, when located,
was supposed to be pastoral region on
", wheras now it is surrounded by wheat
fields. Time has developed the great
value of the supposed pasture lands for
wheat growing, and hundreds of covet-
GUS IbCh al sNstA '.<hA''
land as wasted on uAprOductise and un-
civilized tribes.
The Yakima reservation, also, is now
in the way of progress. Hundreds Of
thousands of acres remain untitled, and
not even used as pasture land. The Nez
Perce reservation has been reached by
civilization and would be settlers look on
wide eIpanses OF waste land, with longing
eyes. The Coenr d'Alenes possess the
most inviting lands possible, and while
they cultivate some of it and are making
progress, which is true Of all the Indians
named, still the greater portion of their
lands are unoccupied and look like bar
ren wastes Ths moment traveller
reaches reservation bounds The land tells
its own story of neglect. There are no
improvements over great part; farms
and fields cease TO exist; long stretches of
unpastured prairie extend as far as the
eye can reach. The Indian wanders by
on his ciyuse, but the land is useless To
him. They possess, in every instance, far
more land than they need. They are
good judges of land Their home spots
are reserved to them, ana they always
made their homes among warm, sheltered
valleys and n fruitful regions
Take the reservations near us, as III
Western Oregon, and We find the Indians
holding more land than they require or
eau ever need Il il so on Puget Sound.
There they occupy the most valuable por
tions and stand in the way of progress,
The reservations in Stevens county, ".
T., including the Moses reservation and
the Colville reservation, contain a large
area, not far from 100000 Of acres.
They were supposed to be out of the way,
but settlers would go there to-day if they
could, and mining discoveries have caused
the President to throw open part of No
ses reservation to the public, much to
his disgust
General Miles has worked a solution Of
the question as relates to Moses band, by
securing negotiations for the purchase Of
their lands for reasonable consideration.
The area of land claimed by reservations
is large aggregate, and covers good ter
ritory, capable in every instance OF sup
portinga large population The fifteen
reservations, including the Fiathead,
Shich is reached BY civilization now,
must occupy many millions of valuable
land. The area in this way pncluded
amount TO l5. 900, 600 of acres of which
at least 1000, 600 is good farming land
This is a startling fact, but it is fact,
snd We can locate these people as whites
are located, on half that area, or perhaps
one third or one quarter.
The fact tha, We wish TO make evid, Mt
Is that Indian reservations include mil
lions of acres, for which the Indians have
no possible use. They possess it, and dc
not wish to give il up. But civilization
has reached the very borders of these res
ervations, and clsmors for room inside.
The question that the public pats is this:
What viii the Government do about III
We used 70 talk about hefrontier, and
the Indians were supposed 70 live on the
froLtier, but railroads have had the effec.
to soolish all frontier life and bring the
whole world within one great circle Of in
auencs. The Indian is surrounded by
settlements and hemmed in by white civ
ilization. such as it is. Reservations
block the march of progress. The very
localities We believed remote and beyopd
the coming of our people for long time
are to-day brought within the limits of
statehood, and are envied by those whites
who have go, that far and can get no fur.
ther. There is scarcely foot of terrific
~ occupied By Indians within the Limit,
Q nf nrar,n -