Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-07-16


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I lsi x,s.. q, sa 3, sd 81 ~,
~ liis ayored sSS
& IL ~
~ cnrrent IIlmlt er 81 Forest ana
eW on co,ntains ths fol.
1owline
'rhe Grow India III rese rvl,atiion include
about Z 500. 900 acres pf land IS west.
ern Montana south 81 the Yellow tone
river. Exct,pt along The river. bottoms
81 contains little arabic. land and no d.
where can farming be- carried on With
ont irrigation. But the broad prai1riea
rolling foothills and mountain parks
4 luxuriant with nutritious grass, and
B the reservations advantages as . stock
country are unsurpassed, This reser-
yation Is all that Is left to the Grows 81
tho broad lands that once were theirs
Here they live subsisting on what the
govern nlent issues to them, for few Of
them have made any progress in indus
trial pursuits, and there Is no game
left. A few Of the Crows have cows
which were issued to them by the gov
eminent, and they have a good many
ponies, but they have as yet done hard
y anything toward learning how to till
the ground. " 5.z s. 5@
Over the length and breadth Of the
reservation the cattlemen's herds feed
and fatten on the acres which belong
to the Indians. The few cows belong.
ing to the latter range with the thous-
ands owned by the whites, and are alb
sorbed BY them. 1t is the old story of
the poor mans one eve lamb which
his rich neighbor coveted. j i III !. =s.
III The, tresspassing of these cattle on
the: reservation is expressly forbidden
by the regulations of the Indian depart
ment, but under sanction of permits
issued by Agent Williamson to num-
Der OF firms, the practice still continues.
Having acquired this foothold, the cat
tlemen propose to make still moro sure
OF this great pasture land. 4 They wish
to secure it beyond a peradventure and
for all time. They desire to- fasten
their grip upon these lands so firmly
that it can never be loesened. This IS
their plan: They have arranged with
the present agent to. give them permits
to throw their cattle on the reserve.
Having secured these permits from the
agent, they have turned in the stock in
large numbers and are now taking
possession of the best locations. The
permits which they have obtained cover
the best agricultural and grazing lands
on the reserve, and on these lands the
cattlemen are building permanent inn
provements. which will enable them to
hold the land should the reservation
ever be thrown open to the public and
to bluff off actual settlers.
Among the firms and individuals who
are alleged to have succeeded in get
ting permits to throw cattle on the re-
serve are the following: Briggs & Ellis,
renewal of permit to Craze cattle on
the reservation, at SO cents per head;
Hoskins & McGirl, permit to Craze
bulls on the reservation when not
needed with the COWS that Craze north
OF the Yellowstone; Ash, permit to
Craze small band of cattle on the
reservation.
It is believed that there is no law for
this permit system VIII: Oh is being car
ried out by Agent Williamson, and that
any cattleman has as much right to
turn his cattle on the reservation as
those who have these permits.
1t is stated by those who are perfect
~ familiar with the reservation that
Nelson Storey, of Bozcman, is building
permanent ranch on the reservation
near Pryor mountains, and that he has
a permit to Craze his cattle on the re-
serve. Whether he has such permit or
not his cattle are there by thousands.
So also are those belonging to I. X.
Dillworth, making with those of Storey
perhaps twenty thousand in ALL Last
winter and spring they dotted the
whole country between Pryor river and
the western boundary of the reserve.
Storey had then hay ranch and COR
rails on Clark's fork. Several of the
cattlenen have boasted that they lave
the reservation securely in their power.
1t is not only the cattlemcn who are
encroaching on the reservation, for
Thomas Barry, a sheepman of Rock
Creek, stated last spring that he had a
permit to Craze his band of 5000 on
the reservation up to June.
On the south, a cattleman Of Wyo-
ming, H. c. Lowell. whose stock
ranges on Sage creek and Sinking
Water, takes advantage of his prox-
unity to the reservation to Craze his
cattle there, too. As the case stands at
present, the cattlemen seem in q fair
way to gain absolute control of the res
eryation. This control Will not benefit
the Indians, who are at present una
ware Of this state of things and would
strenuously object were they not de-
ceived in the matter, and when the time
comes for throwing open the reserva-
ton the desirable locations will be found
to be all occupied by the cattlemen,
who will find some means of holding on
to them. The people and press of the
Yellowstone valley are very silent on
this matter, for the great cattle firms
interested have too much influence to
be openly resisted. 4. z<. + e.. Y n.
The greater portion of the .reserva-
ton is now under the control of the
fattlemen. The Crows receive little
or nothing in return. certainly not
to pay them for the risk
to their own small bands Of cows
and horses which are certain to be alb:
sorbed BY the herds Of the white men.
The reservation should not be thus tax.
en- away from the Indians without their.