Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-23
N THE CHOCTAw LAND.
The Tribe and Its Dissensions-The
Singular Status o. the White Man and

CorresDondeacs Eeso York Sun
The ChactOw Nation is one Of the five
nations into which the Indian Territory is
divided. Its territory is bounded on the
east by Arkansas, on the south by Texas.
and on the west and north BY the lands Of
other nations, including those Of the
CherOkecs and the Creeks. II contains
1900 square miles. 1t is divided into
sixteen counties and three districts. Its
surface is diversified by large rolling
prairies. alternated with low fat bottoms.
meadows, forests, hills, and mountains.
The forests extend over a large portion Of
the Territory. The most valuable timber
IS walnut, hickory, ash, and cottonwood.
The ground is UDderlaid with coal, with
in some places very thick seams. The
coal and timber are hardly touched as
yet. Some day they wlll be very valuable.
In the river bottoms the soil is probably
the richest in the world. When only
half cultivated it produces immense
crops. Cotton and Indian corn are the
main crops. Tobacco, sorghum, and the
cereals. as well as root crops, also do well.
The development OF the country is. how
ever, a thing Of the future. 4 few mines
have been opened. principally in the
neighbOrnOOd Of McCalister. In the last
wear the improvement of the POteau
river, which runs for about forty miles
through the Territory, has been mOOtcd.
1t drains a large section Of country near
the eastern boundary stored with abun-
dance Of coal, timber, stone, and ore.
This Improvement VIII doubtless create a
spirit Of progress and advancement which
VIII favor the further development of the
country.
The government Of the nation is mod
eled after that Of The United States. II is
composed of a Senate, House Of Repre-
sentatives. and an Executive, called
Chief or Governor, elected " the people.
Citizens only are allowed to vote. Out Of
the population Of about 1900. pro habiT
not more than half ore citizens. TIE
citizens Of ChOctaW lineage number not
more than 1000, The remainder are
whites who have married natives. The
remaining population is composed Of
whites aud negroes, X nQn-eitiZen resi-.
dent is required by law to have a permit,
for which he pays a certain sum, and by
virtue of which he is allowed to remain
one year IN the nation. This permit is
Issued on the application of a citizen.
The occupation to be pursued by the man
must be distinctly stated. He then takes
his application, duly signed, to the Clerk
of the County Court, who records it on
receipt of fee OF fifty cents, and recon-
mends to the Sheriff that a permit he
issued to the applicant. WhOmust prove
that he IS honest and swear that he will
abide by the law. If he can do this, and
nobody can show good reason why he
should not Ia Ia .e.....ocwe1 to stay in the ma
ton. he receives tAe permit. If he is to be
a common labOrer, or servant to citizen,
it is so stated in the permit, and he pays
$3.50 for it. For a renter the charge is 50.
ANY one engaged in the various trades
and callings, as well as the learned pro-
fessious, and alleXcept thOseundert the two
former headings, and licensed traders, are
charged SO.
ANY white person can obtain permit,
unless a disinterested citizen of standing
gives good reason why he should not
receive It. In that case his application
will be rejected. Though bribery and
evasion Of these laws is common enough,
vet they are far better enforced now than
when first passed, three years ago. So
little was the law then regarded that its
effect was only to produce laugh when
ever mentioned. Outside Of a few honest
men disposed to abide by the law no at
tentiOn was paid to it.
The ChOctaws wished to remove in
truders-those who refused to obtain per-
mits and those who had settled places Of
their own, many Of The Is1el ci& .ii lrau7
but found il impossible to do so. in this
plight the Chief had recourse TO the Gov
eminent Of the United states. and re-
Quested assistance to remove the intru-
ders, as promised in the treaty. The
= v
mander at Fort Sill 20 furnish the ChOc-
taw Chief, Col. }. +. McCurtain. with
soldiers to use as he thought necessary.
Lieut.. Shoemaker was ordered with his
company to the ChOctaw capital, and re-
ported there for duty on Aug. l, 1880. The
Governor, with his aid and 800 native
militia, began the removal Of intruders,
including all nOn-citizens who were in
any manner offensive to the nation.
This spread general CONSERVATION
among all classes, including even citizens
themselves. Great numbers Of nOn-citi-
Zens began Immediately to apply for per-
mits, but many were refused who a few
months before might have obtained them.
a few among the most respectable non
citizens, however, received them. The
price Of the permits was placed at Sl7 |
each. Many who failed to obtain them
fled, and the rest were removed Little |
trouble was experienced in the western |
and interior counties in removing the in !
truders. but when the Chief arrived in the /
eastern division of the nation, notably |
Scullyyille and SUgarloaf counties, much /
opposition was encountered. This resis- !
lance was mainly among the citizens /
themselves. The average ChOctaw loves |
work little better than his savage ances- /
tors. They were settled in a country
whose natural advantages are unsur- |
passed. They received money with /
which they bought slaves, cleared and /
cultivated land, built good houses, and |
lived without labor on the produce of a |
soil teeming with richness. Thus they 1
lived for many years, until the war broke /
out. This stripped them of their slaves,
and most of their other perishable pro-
perty, and left them poor. What could /
they do? Only few had cattle,O or stock |
enough to support them. Work they
would not, even with the fertile soil in
their possession, which needed only to be
tIckled to spring up in abundant harvest.
In this strait they eagerly accepted the
offers Of the whites, who, after the war,
came docking into the nation, to till their
lands. All that had farms were thus
saved from labor, but they were also thus
incidentally exposed to the great and
growing nuisance of Intruders, which
eliminated in civil cOmmOtiOn. The
great mass Of citizens were dependent on
white labor. If their renters and hire
ling were taken from them, who would
till their lands: The whites composed
their principal labor, as the negroes,
whether native of from the states, were
worthless set.
Many citizens openly opposed the re-
mOYal Of the whites. A law passed about
the time of the arrival of the United
States soldiers, restricting them to the
employment of one white labOrer, still
further aroused their Ire. This oppOsi-
tiOnIwas strongest in SugarlOaf and Scully-
vile counties, because there were far more 1
whites there than in any other part OF the
nation. Many more farms had been
opened and more depended on their labor.
When Gov. McCurtaIn reached this sec
tion the excitement became so great that
open talk Of resistance was heard on
every side. Several citizens gathered |
crowds of their friends, servants, and
renters, ali armed and determined on
fight, and for some time a revolution was
apprehended. Had not cOnciliatory mea-
sures been adopted this would probably |
have been the termination. The law re-
stricting the citizens to one hireling was
modified so as to allow of their employing
three. provided that they were of good
character, and that they had never fraud
ulently claimed rights or settled places of
their own. This pacifed so large a num-
Der of the malcOntents that but few were
left, and these were easily Oyerawed.
After this the work OF removal went on
quickly and was soon accomplished. The
Chief returned TO the capital and dis
missed his forces. But right here total
ly unexpected result took place. The in
truders began to return, at first coyertly,
one by one, and then openly and in
crowds. Nothing cOuld now no done with