Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-09-06
INDIAN LEASES.

Njmmo. Jr., late Chief Of the Bureau OF
Statistics. is in town. He is en- route to
fbe states and Territories embraced IN
the range and ranch cattle horses aud
sheep growing area of the interior, Win
view Of writing a book upon the SUBJECT
To a reporter he said; II am deyotlng
special attention 10 the Indian and puoHc
land Questions. came 20 this city direct
from the western portions OF Kansas ana
HE Indian Territory, the scenes OF the re-
rent troubles regarding The cattlemen
and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe IN
dian tribes As the result Of very
careful investigation my views
have been radically changed In regard 10
the merits OF the whole subject since l
left Washington. II appears 10 me tnai
the whole difficulty has had its origin IN
the fact that a number OF army oincers,
with their friends, were formerly largely
engaged in t1e herding Of cattle on the
Gbeyenue and Arapahoe lands without
payines cent for the privilege, WHICH was
terminated by the leasing Of the lands.
Hundreds Of thousands Of other cattle
were also grazing on the Cheyenne and
Arapahoe reservations without any COM
Densation Whatever 10 the Indians. These
latter cattle were ostenslbly passing
through the Indian Territory on the two
trails extending from Texas to the North
err ranges, but in fact
WERE BEING HELD
in the Cheyenne and ArapahOe lands
where they were iattened and thence
shipped in large numbers TO the markets
OF Kansas City, II. Louis and Chicago.
The army officers stationed At Fort Reno,
who appear not TO nave been Ia the army
cattle range, which had It's headquarters
At Camp supply. 100 miles away, ana -
miles north OF the Cheyenne and Arapa-
hoe reservation. As we'll as the Indian
agent stationed at Fort Reno, declared
that il was utterly impossible for the
army to keep these cattle Of the Indian
lands. To have done so it would have
rendered necessary the erection OF a fence
around the entire ndian territory and also
have rendered necessary the fencing OF
the two trails running through 1t. Fiji
teen hundred miles OF fence would nave
been required, and then it would have
been necessary to nave stationed guards
all along these lines of fence TO keep the
cattlemen from cutting them. Finally,
after mature discussion OF the whole
subject as between the army officers al
Fort Reno, the agent, and the tribes as
sembled in council, 1t was decided TO
be best to lease the lands to responsible
parties, not One-twentieth part of which
lands were occupied or needed by the In
dlans for any purpose. Secretary Teller
at first stoutly refused TO sccede to this
but be was finally prevailed
upon 10 do SO on arguments showing tnat
such leasing would be protective Of the
Of the Indians and pronOuve
of their welfare.
SECRETARY TELLER.
49,
was made by army officers stationed al
Fort Reno. Gen. Pope, commander Of the
wrote a long and very earn
est sppeal in favor OF the plan Of leasing,
and Gen. Sheridan cordially Endorsed all
that was said by Gen. Pope, and the Secre-
tary OF War transmitted the entire cor
res pOndence to Secretary Teller OF the In
terror Department Upon this earnest
appeal Secretary Teller relented, allowing
the Indians to lease so much Of their
lands as they had no use for to RESPONSE
Die parties. ! will mention as one of the
amusing features of this business. the
fact that seyen.eighths OF the or1gi-
nal lessees were Democrats, and that
they secured the appreciation of
the Secretary Of the Interior almost en-
tlfely through the influence OF Demo-
cratic Senator'S and members OF Con-
gress; so that the easing was. in fact. an
army arrangement. backed up and car
ried out almost entirely by Democrats.
am Of opinion that a thorough iuvesti-
CATION Of the recent difficulties viii dis
close the fact that they had their origin
in the discomfort of certain cOntumaeious
Indian leaders of bands who kept them
selves alOof from the main body Of their
tribes, certain squaw men and certain
army officers and their frieuds stationed
at Camp Supply, outside the Cheyenne
and Arapahoe reservations. During the
last two years the latter have, in connec-
ton with the bad Indians and the sQuaw
men, been using all their efforts to
STIR Up Discomfort.
and 20 poison the mind Of the Lieutenant
General against the cattlemen. Their
animus appears TO have arisen from the
tact. already stated, that their business Of
cattle-rsising was cut OF at the time VI
the leasing Of the lands, and they were
compelled TO drive their herd-believed to
have amounted TO abou. 10000 head-0yer
into the Panhandle OF Texas, where the
grazing was not so rich or so
extensive. Besides this, they had
previously been paying consider
able sums Of money TO the bands
Of outlaw Indians, who made their
abode along the northern line OF the
reservation and also for a very consider
able portion OF the time at Camp supply.
( believe 10 was these Indians who made
all the trouble and that Gen. Sheridan
was grossly deceived in regard to the
whole matter, and unintentionally
misled the President. l believe, further,
that the leasing OF the lands rs the
Indians mad, up TO the final denOument,
the appreciation OF nine-tenths OF the
tribes, and that IL proved TO be
BENEFICIAL TO THEM
as IL was a very large and valuable source
Of revenue, tue lease money having inya-
riably been paid promptly and in advance.
j will add that the raising OF horses. cat
tie and sheep in this country on wild
lands, belonging TO the United States as
We'll as 10 the Indians, has been practlccd
ever since the country has been in exist
ence, and at the present time millions Of
cattle are ranged gratuitouslv on free
lands Of the United States throughout an
area thirty or forty times az large IA
the Cheyenne and Arapahoe reser-
yations, and that for the life
OF me / can't see what harm
was done in permitting cattle 10 Craze
on the unoccupied lands I'm those eserya-
tons, especially when such occupancy
was a source Of revenue TO the Indians,
and prevented like occupancy by cattle
whose owners paid nothing whatever. an
evil which Gen. Sheridan and Gen. Pope
both declared could not be cured except
by the leasing Of the lands to responsible
parties"
Mr.. Nimmo will start tomorrow for ST.
pa1l and fhp Pacific eDngt OVQr tina lima